


Thank you

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Death, Episode: s05e25 Legs From Here To Homeworld, Fluff, Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-15 13:18:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15413787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lars' parents are very grateful for their son having returned home sound and safe. To thank everyone, they invite Steven and his family over to a garden party- to Lars' dismay. He had tried to avoid his newfound crush at all costs...Steven meanwhile has two big problems: Lars and Homeworld. How will he deal with them?





	1. Invitation

**Author's Note:**

> This ship may never die.

The zombie was sitting on the bed in his room and bored himself to death. It was currently past midnight and four weeks after he had come home. Since then, everything seemed to go by so very  _slowly_. In space he always had been on edge, awaiting the next disaster. No day was like the other and he had loved all that- his crew, the ship itself, his new look... But here? The beginning had been super exciting of course. Everyone was so happy to see him and they had asked him a million questions. His arrival had been quickly overshadowed though, as Steven was more interesting than him. The gem had actually been to Homeworld again and negotiated with White Diamond. Those talks were still going on, but sometimes had longer breaks where Steven would come home. Lars had no real idea, what he even was  _negotiating_. Still, he trusted his little  _friend_ to make things right again.

Yeah,  _friend_... The hybrid was far from that for him after all he had done. How could he ever hope to repay the other? Definitely not by falling head over heels for him like a sicko. Stars- Steven was almost four years younger than him. He really should not drool over him and want him  _like that_. Hell, the commander wasn't even gay! He had never found boys interesting- well ok, he  _had_ watched some videos, but that did not mean anything! If at all, he was only gay for the diamond! Pouting a little, he pulled his legs up and hugged them. His TV was on and showed some shitty show he had liked prior to his death. Now though, he despised the thing. The main villains in it were  _zombies_ of all things and were totally misunderstood! When one of his kin had his head transformed into mush by a baseball bat, he had enough. Offended, he turned the device off completely. 

If he could only sleep... it would make things far easier. Like this, he had to stay up 24/7 with nothing to do. He didn't go to work at the Big Donut, as Sadie had quit and he had no intentions to work with someone else. School was out of the question, too. He had been in his final year. Because he had missed most of that though, he couldn't do his finals and would have to repeat the grade.  _Alone_. All of his friends would be finished and he would be still there. So he had decided to stop going entirely. He could not go back to normal life anyway and work in an  _office_! He would try to join the rebels, or rather the diamond. Perhaps Steven would even join his 'siblings' on Homeworld; who knew? Then, he would not want to be on earth and fight his crush. He would go anywhere he did. Only problem was, he hadn't got the guts to tell him that.  

He was pathetic. He missed the hybrid dearly, but never initiated contact. He was too anxious to phone him or go over to his house. The other wouldn't even want him there anyway! Steven had his Connie; he would not be very supportive of his affections. Also every time he had met Steven by accident, it had been horrible. Despite knowing better, he had felt like his heart would beat again and like he did not get enough air. His hands had started trembling and he had gotten  _totally_ awkward and uncool all of a sudden. Through his experiences he had become rather confident and chill, but that all stopped in the other's presence. So he had decided to just hide from Steven, until he lost his sick crush. It would surely fade, if he did not see the diamond. 

Except, it did not. His heart ached and his longing only increased. He had even fallen so low, as to stalk Steven's social media every hour! Fed up with his own incompetence, he lay down in another attempt to finally sleep. His thoughts however made it impossible and he could do nothing, but stare at the ceiling for hours.

~~~~

Their son walked down the stairs grumpily, making no attempt at being silent. He joined them in the kitchen and sat down at the table, before groaning to show his apparent suffering. "Oh, sweetie... Let me guess, you could not sleep again? Don't worry, I'm sure you get used to doing it again! Now, do you want something to eat? I'm sure I can cheer you up with your favorite waffles!" Martha cooed at him, while stroking his arm in support. He was still wearing his now usual commander's outfit- how adorable, she thought.

They were always so...  _nice_ to him. He really did not feel, as if he deserved it. He had been horrible to them before his resurrection! They had even gone as far, as to let the off-colors stay at their house for a few days. The temple had not been rebuild fully yet at that time. Lars knew his parents were kind of scared of all the gem-stuff, so it was a really big deal. His mother still awaited an answer, so he said "Yeah, I couldn't sleep. A-And you really don't have to cook for me; you'd only  _waste_ the food."

Dante looked sad "No son, don't say these things! **Nothing** is wasted on you. It doesn't matter, that you can't starve. If you want something, we'll give it to you- you just have to say so! And your mom doesn't mind cooking at all, you know that." How dare his son think so lowly of himself? They were so very proud of him! He was a space pirate now and fought aliens! They were also just glad, that he was back. They had loved him before, but now it only intensified- they had been so very depressed...

"T-Thanks dad. Then I'd like some waffles, yes," he politely said. He tried his best to make his parents happy. They didn't show it, but his disappearance had severely frightened and saddened them. So much so, that the two had rarely left the house or met their friends in that time. The zombie was also certain, that his dad had gained a few pounds. Lastly he knew how much they loved it, when he was a good child. They had been so positively surprised, when Steven had possessed him... It almost seemed like they loved that version  _of him_ more than the real thing. To further prove that, his mother joyfully stood up and began cooking. After a while, he was presented the finished product and stuffed it in his mouth. His taste buds were rather  _dull_ since he died, but they worked good enough for this. As usual, it tasted absolutely delicious. Lars became a little fidgety however, when he noticed his parents staring. They sat opposite from him, watched him and smirked. "W-What's wrong?" he asked. It was never a good sign, when they did that...

They regarded each other and Martha exclaimed "We have a surprise for you!"

Oh stars no. Last time they had had a surprise, he had been gifted a godawful pullover his grandmother had made. He had been  _forced_ to wear it to school even. So he reluctantly inquired "What kind of surprise and what for?" Had he achieved something?

Dante smiled "You know we never quite thanked Steven enough for what he did. A handshake just doesn't do it. SO... Your mother and I, planned something and I'm sure, you'll love it too! We invited Steven, Greg and the Crystal Gems over for a garden party! There will be lots of food, music, movies..." He told him proudly.

Their son however almost suffocated on a piece of waffle and was now furiously coughing. "Y-You invited over  **Steven**?!" he gasped in shock. He was lucky to already be dead, or he would have suffocated for real. 

"Why yes, honey! Aren't you happy? He has so little time nowadays, but we managed to get hold of him for you! You do like him, don't you?" his mom carefully asked. Why was he so shocked?

He regarded his parents, as they looked kind of hurt. "N-No, it's uuh great! A-And yes, I like him  ~~very~~ much," he saved himself. He couldn't hurt their feelings, as they had obviously put a lot of effort in it. Still he kind of began blushing at his last statement and averted his eyes to the side. He should have just said, he was his friend- not this! This sounded wrong and suspicious...

How cute! Their child's skin just became a deeper shade of pink. Martha could not help, but tease him a little "Oh~ What is this? Why are you blushing, hm?"

"I-It's nothing!" he assured her quickly, but it did not seem very convincing, as his voice had just became a few pitches higher. 

"Nothing, huh?" his father joined the game "I'd say, you fancy Universe a bit more than  _just a friend_."

 _Shit_. No one was supposed to know! He had wanted to loose his feelings for the diamond, without anyone knowing of them in the first place. "S-Shut up! I don't- D-Dad, he's like  _14_. I'm almost  _18_ a-and also, I don't even like boys!" he defended himself in vain, as his parents only chuckled. 

Didn't like boys,  _sure_. Dante reminded him "Ah, so you didn't swoon over that weird rich guy in 7th grad, hm? If I remember correctly, he was all you could talk about...Also, I saw Universe age in mere seconds in front of my very own eyes before, I don't think it matters." 

"K-Kevin?! I did not  _swoon over him_! I-I just thought, he was cool and stuff and wanted to be his friend.  **Nothing more**!" he whined in terror. Kevin was an  _asshole_. Yes, he had been somewhat drawn to him, but only for his popularity! He had wanted to fit in so badly... Back then, he wasn't that close with Sadie and he had ended his friendship to Ronaldo. He would have done anything to impress the rich kid. It might have turned into some kind of obsession, but it had not lasted for long. After he had trusted Kevin with a secret  _and other stuff happened,_ he had spread it mercilessly. Then, it was over. He had been so hurt... He had really thought, Kevin liked him.

"Sure, honey. Either way, Steven would be a far better catch than that boy or Sadie! He's so adorable and brave!  _If_ you ever decide to stop lying to yourself, we'll gladly support you! It would be so nice, if you had a boyfriend like him- he would make such a good son-in-law! Just... if you intend to  _advance_ in your relationship, please talk to us beforehand. Who knows, what kind of diseases gems could have! Also, his mom somehow transformed into him- you should be careful, before he-" his mom tortured him.

"Steven  **cannot** get pregnant, mom! A-And it doesn't matter anyway, as I don't have feelings for him! Just leave me alone!" he shouted in terror and ran up the stairs to his room. Screw being nice to them! He should not have agreed to that stupid party! Downstairs he heard his parents laughing. He did so not want to have  _the talk_ with his parents or admit his feelings to them. He should have stayed in space!


	2. Messages

He lay on his bed, unmoving like a corpse. In fact he wished to be one right now. His parents were doing this on purpose, he was certain. They liked to see his suffering! He would bet all of his wealth on the fact, that they would embarrass him in front of Steven, too. Especially his mom would not keep her mouth shut and tell the diamond of his secret crush. He would die of shame. Steven would  _politely_ turn him down and then tell him, Connie was his one true love. Hell, his only chance at winning over Steven was outliving her. But what if she died and would be resurrected as well? Then he would watch on for all eternity, while they loved each other. No, he wasn't over-dramatizing at all!

He was interrupted from his sulking however, when his phone rang. He fished for it in his trouser's pockets and saw, that he had gotten a text message  _from him_. He imagined, that his heart made a little, hopeful jump. Steven had written "Hey :) Just wanted to know, how you're doing!"

Right, the hybrid might be a bit concerned. They had not seen each other in two weeks, as Lars deliberately avoided him. "Hi. I'm fine, you?" he tried to play it cool. Even though he was not physically there, Lars felt rather excited in a negative way. Couldn't he just get over this already? This was embarrassing and inappropriate! What would he do at their party? Perhaps he should eat too much on purpose, so he would puke and had an excuse to hide in his room then. But he wanted to see Steven...

Rather fast, the diamond replied "I'm so exited to visit you tomorrow! We haven't seen each other in weeks :( ! I'm alright otherwise. All those trips to Homeworld are pretty exhausting, though..."

What should he say now? He could not sound too  _desperate_  or too disinterested, it would either confuse or hurt the other! After retyping his words over and over again, he send his final result "Yeah, don't know what's up with that either. Guess we are just unlucky or sth. Why does that stuff even take so long? You must have been there 5 times (?) or so by now." This  _should_ be fine.

After some time, he became anxious. Why didn't he get an answer- had he fucked up? But his assumption was corrected, as the diamond replied "WD is stubborn and kind of scary, tbh. She's so different from other gems, too. She kinda ignores, that I'm not my mom. But I think, I'll get through to her soon!"

"Different in how far? And what are you even trying to achieve?" the zombie wrote in puzzlement.

"Sorry, forgot to tell you :(. I want her to help reverse corruption (if that even works) and then leave Earth alone. And I don't know... the gems treat her like a goddess, it's unnerving. She behaves so weirdly, too. Sometimes I think, she doesn't even listen! And her Pearl! She doesn't even  _move_. She kinda floats around and merges into walls. Also, she was cracked and WD doesn't do anything about it!!11! Honestly, she and White Pearl freak me out o.o" he received. What the hell? Now Lars just wanted to see it himself. Sounded like some kind of cheap horror movie...

"Sounds fishy...be careful, k? If you need help, I still need to repay you..." the commander offered. He felt rather concerned for his crush. Steven, despite his age, wasn't  _that_ easily scared by normal gems. White Diamond must have been really different then.

After mere seconds, the next message came "I am always careful ;) Thx, but you don't have to. I didn't revive you, so you would need to reward me for it! And no one can come with me to the negotiations anyway. White doesn't want it :/"

Well, that _definitely_ did not sound suspicious!  _White doesn't want it_ \- but what if the pink diamond did not either and was planning something entirely different. He was confused. At the one hand he wanted to be with Steven and protect him. On the other hand he was scared to be hurt, if he was turned down . But should he just give up, because he might get hurt? He saw Steven was still online, awaiting an answer. "Fuck it," he murmured to himself and wrote "No, I  _want_ to help you and not just because of that. I don't want to accuse you of anything. But anyway, whichever side you will take in the end, I will still stay on your side, k?"

"Side? o.O" he was replied.

"You do see, that all of this is a little suspicious, right? When you talk to WD alone, you could be doing anything...not that I distrust you. As I said, I'll stay on **your** side _._ " he quickly added. Stars, please don't let him get angry, he thought.

After a long while, the only thing that came was "...Thank you."

Did that mean, he was right with his accusation? He decided not to keep the conversation going for now. Whatever the diamond was doing up there, he trusted him. How could he not, after he had saved his life and he was so in love with him? Lars did not know, if this new life was better or worse than his old one. And what was he supposed to do about his crush? Should he just  _tell him_? Steven was very kind, but not even he could make rejection pleasant. He'd best not say anything. He'd rather stay the diamond's friend and ally, instead of ending their friendship with that. He had no one else, after all. Sadie had found new friends and... he had no other friends than Sadie. Perhaps his crew, but he needed someone more  _human_. But humans weren't immortal. No, he should not have thought about that now. Thinking about every human he knew dying before him only made him regret his revival.  

 


	3. Preparation

The next morning, he was more or less forced to cook. The guests would come at 2 pm and they had to prepare lots of stuff. While he and his mom cooked, his dad prepared the garden. He would need to put tables and chairs outside, decorate, start the fire... Also, Martha just wanted him out of their way. Dante was a horrible cook and only ever wanted to  _test_ the food. With clean and efficient expertise, Lars cut vegetable and fruit. His mom had tought him how to cook for years, no wonder he was that good. Hence, he noticed that the food was far too much. "Mom, how are we supposed to eat all of this? The Crystal Gems don't really need to eat and me neither. I will, but I know for a fact, that the gems are disgusted by having meals. Only five people will be eating," he pointed out.

"I'm sure they will at least try the food, won't they? And if not, we'll put it in the freezer. Don't worry, sweetie," she assured him. Still, he found this to be ridiculously much. Twenty people could have easily eaten from this. 

"Mom... I know you guys are grateful for what Steven did, but he doesn't need any extravagant thanks for it. He told me so himself- he sees this more as a gift to me and does not expect anything in return. We really don't have to do this," he told her. It would only make the hybrid uncomfortable. He could be a little shy and the like, he knew. 

She shook her head "He's humble, too? Oh Lars, I'd so love to make him part of the family..."

" **Mom** , just no!" he growled at her. Why was she trying to be a matchmaker? She would definitely slip up and tell Steven of his affection for him. 

She began giggling "You're so cute, when you get flustered like that. I'm only teasing you a little, honey. It's your decision; either you try to date him or you don't. But don't come crying to me, if you are too late! I can only assume, that a boy like him would have lots of people to choose from. Anyways, we want to thank him. Yes, this was a gift. Still, he will get one as well!"

She had a point. Connie was competition and once the diamond got a bit more popular on Homeworld... Still, he murmured "If it isn't too late already. He seems to like Connie quite a lot. I don't blame him; she's cute and intelligent. Hell, she probably is an better ally than me. I can hardly defend myself outside a space-ship...She knows more about Homeworld, too. My crew could only tell me so much, because they lived in hiding."

Martha watched on, as her son depressedly cut carrots. Normally, he was extremely fast about it and anyone else would surely cut their fingers off. Now though, even Dante would have been faster. She went closer to her son and hugged im a little "Sunshine, don't say these things. I'm certain you are a vital ally to him! And they could just be very close friends! Not every girl and boy, who are friends have to be in love. I've seen him interact with you before- he  _admires_ you. He is always so excited and wants to impress you, Laramie."

"Mom...he  _loves_ literally anyone like this. He wouldn't even hate Kevin! He would probably befriend him as well. I'm in no way special to him. Why would I be? I was never nice to him and even now I avoid him. Compared to him, I'm a nobody. Perhaps you don't realize this, but he is the leader of a rebellion  _and_ an Emperor from outer space. I am a high school drop-out with no future, if he doesn't take me in," he spat out. His mom was naive and so had he been. He should have never given in and entertained hopes like that...

"No! You are also a rebel, a pirate and a commander! You aren't nothing- you have so many talents!" she tried to convince him. Was that really how he felt? She was so very proud of him; how could he not see this? It hurt to hear her child say, that he was a failure.

"Pff. My crew consists of two perma-fusions, and two off-colors. That can hardly be called a  _crew_ , so I'm not really a commander of anything. I'm not a rebel- Steven never made me part of the CGs. If at all, I'm some puny little criminal. The diamonds wouldn't even spare time to look at me or give me a trial. They would just let me be killed off by a  _Ruby._ And even  _if_ Steven takes me in, I'm no better. He doesn't need a captain, as he can fly his ship alone. And what else am I good for? Sorry to say so, but he'll never be part of this family, because he does not even like me that much! Just like everyone else..." he became a little louder. Enraged now, he cut the carrots with new vigor. 

"Sweetie-" she began saying.

"No, mom. Just leave it be. We still have to cut these and we won't get finished, if we don't work," he snapped at his mother, while pointing at some vegetables. When he cut the poor plants, his thoughts wandered. He would never tell Steven, what he really felt. He would help him, but nothing more. Stars, he should have not vowed to help him either! He should have just moved to the other side of the US, so he would never have to see any of this again! Perhaps that's what he would do, in fact. He would vanish at night, leaving only a note behind and never return. He could work at a shop like the Big Donut again, live in total seclusion until the end of time or he could just  _end_ it. What use was immortality, if he was unwanted by everyone? Well, his parents liked him, but they would die sooner or later. Also, they liked the possessed Lars far better than him... 

~~~~

Steven felt  _so_ excited! He had been invited to Lars' house just  _once_! And this was perfect after all the stress he lived through. He currently was in his room at the temple. Bismuth had started repairing his home, but it was far from finished. The main rooms were done though. Even his bedroom was technically finished, but he had lend it Peridot, while she searched for a new home. This was fine though, too. It gave him some time to be alone, play through scenarios and think about  _White Diamond's bargain_. He was pretty lost on that one, even if he had tried to think it through as much as he could. This was important- perhaps life-changing for not only him, but everyone else. It really helped to know, that Lars had his back. He could not understand, how the other could blindly support him. The zombie could be right- he could talk to his sister about everything and no one would find out that quickly. Not even Garnet. She still refrained from looking into 'Rose's' future. And really, he was negotiating about things, that would possibly render him a traitor.  _Possibly_ \- if he agreed. 

Now he really should not think of it, though. There were other important things going on right now.  _Lars_. How he loved that name rolling of his tongue! He had always known, that he liked the older one a little too much, that the warmth in his chest wasn't supposed to happen with friends. He was 14, but not naive. He had talked about this with Connie; she was the intelligent one! But she had also come to the conclusion, that he was seeing Lars as more than a friend. He had tried everything to loose his feelings. Dating the zombie was plain impossible; even harder than dealing with Homeworld. Lars just did not like him that way. The saddest thing was, he could not even blame it on his age or gender. First of, his appearance depended on how he felt. Secondly, Lars was  _rumored_  to be at least bi. He took the rumors with a grain of salt though, as they also said other horrible things. For instance, it was gossiped Lars had actually  _made out_ with  **Kevin**! The diamond doubted, his friend would do that. However, even as a 14 year-old, he could see the sense behind it. The zombie  _had_ often tried to become cool and have popular friends. Kevin was definitely the most popular boy of the region... If those rumors were true, Steven would stand no chance. He wasn't good-looking, didn't dress well- he  _was_ kind of rich, he guessed. That wouldn't save him though. 

He looked at his watch; it was almost 1:30 pm. He got up and summoned a mirror, but he looked like he usually did. He  _could_ shapeshift to something more attractive... But no, it would not better his chances. Lars would just get weirded out! He suddenly noticed a little detail- "Oh no, not  _again_!" he whimpered. His pupils had taken on a diamond shape, while his irises were pink. Since he had learned of his true heritage, it happened sporadically. He couldn't help it! Willing it away, his eyes returned to normal again. He did not mind that much himself, but the others would get mad. They didn't say it aloud, but they were still not comfortable with all of this. He had also not turned his gem around for the same reason, although he had enough of living a lie. If he accepted WD's offer, it would resolve itself...

Being pleased with his appearance otherwise, he left his room. Outside he greeted his family. Well, not  _everyone_ was there. It was his dad and the core members of the Crystal Gems- Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst. The others did not want to come as well. Lapis had gone into hiding again despite his best efforts. She had realized, what Bismuth had done to her and fled. She had been the one to crack Lapis and she could not forgive the multi-colored gem for her suffering. Bismuth herself did not accompany them, as she had no idea, who Lars was and Peridot neither. The off-colors were a whole other story. They had cut themselves off and lived in Lars' ship, although they could live at the temple. They had not dealt well at all with the fact, that he was a diamond and talking to Homeworld- they were  _terrified_ he would turn on them. They didn't let anyone in the ship, probably not even their leader. Did Lars even visit them? He had no idea.

He had been on Homeworld for most of the four weeks, Lars had been back home. It had been pure luck, he had even time to visit him. But even so, he should have seen the zombie more often! He hadn't been at the secret fight-club, one of Sadie's gigs or even the last festival! It almost felt like Lars was either actively avoiding him or not leaving his house anymore. The 'it's just bad luck' explanation he had gotten, did not satisfy him. The pirate had always been a bad liar. Something was up. Lost in thoughts, he had not even noticed, they had begun travelling to the Barriga's residence. They were sitting in Greg's van and it was pretty cramped. 

He must have been bad at hiding his emotions, as Garnet asked "What's up, Steven? You are looking quite concerned. I can assure you, the party will go by without any  _negative_ incident."

"It's nothing, really. I'm just worried about Lars, he has been acting strange lately. I think he is trying to avoid me...But I don't know why! I don't think I hurt him," he admitted to  _some_ of his thoughts.

Internally, Garnet smiled. She seldom used her future vision on Steven anymore- all his actions were nearly unpredictable. Still she was certain, the events to follow were inevitable. She laughed lightly "Oh Steven, he  _will be_ fine. Trust me. After the party, he will be very happy and you as well."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he wanted to know.

"Where is the fun in telling you everything, hm?" she declined telling him. This would be a bigger gift to the diamond than the party itself. 


	4. The future unfolds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone, who left kudos! It really means a lot to me <3
> 
> If you have an ideas for the plot, feel free to comment them and I might include them! I don't think though, that this fic will be that long.

When he heard the door-bell, he just wanted to hide in his room for all eternity. Why had his parents done this to him? Wasn't he suffering enough as was? Avoiding Steven was bad enough, but seeing him... His heart ached every time, he saw the other and Lars could not show his affection to him. If he could, he would embrace the diamond and never let go or even  _kiss_ him. But that could and would never happen. He might get a short  _platonic_ hug, but nothing else. He was so pathetic- lusting after someone, who was already given away and not interested in him at all. All of this would hopefully get better, when he left Beach City. He had come up with a plan: When it was dark outside and his parents slept, he would take all of his money and other dear things. Then he would take the next bus to the train-station a few towns over and travel to somewhere random. When he found a nice place to stay, he'd just have to work a little, so he could afford a flat. He had no need for food and the like, so he had minimum expenses. It would be so easy to vanish, that it was almost scary. But what else could he do? Staying here was no option- it would destroy him sooner or later. No one would miss him anyway. They had been so happy, when he was in space as well. One just had to look at Sadie! New friends, confidence and a band- her life had improved, while he was gone. He would only do everyone a favor.

Trying to mask his bad mood, he opened the door. "Hey Lars!" the diamond happily chirped and gave him a short, but tight hug. He greeted him and his family, too. He noticed, that Steven smelled really nice. Kind of sweet like cotton candy, but also a little earthy. The former could be explained by his unhealthy diet and he guessed, the latter came from some kind of after-shave. He wished he could bury his nose in his hair and clothes, so he could smell it more intensely. But again, that would never happen. The hybrid probably smelled so good, because he wanted to be presentable for  _Connie_. Without saying much more, he led everyone to the garden, where his dad had already started the fire. Immediately he abandoned Steven again, saying he needed to get the food and plates. In reality though, he just couldn't stand to be in his presence anymore; depression seeping into his mind more and more. It was ridiculous. Every fiber of his being longed to just grasp the diamond and kiss him silly, but he would never let that happen. Steven didn't deserve to be touched by someone  _like him_. He would only hurt the other profoundly and make a fool out of himself. 

He went to the kitchen and gathered everything as slowly and inefficient as possible. Although he could have carried multiple things at once, he did not. The longer he could prevent being heartbroken by seeing the diamond, the better it was. Perhaps he should just run away now. When he had finished another round, he went to the kitchen again. This time however, he was not alone. "Garnet? What are you doing here- are you lost?" he frowned. She was standing in the middle of the room with crossed arms.

"No," she simply stated and went behind him to close the door. Lars became momentarily scared at that. What was she doing? "We have to talk. I know about your plans and I'm telling you now, not to go through with them. This is not the right way, undead one," she calmly noted.

Shit- of course she would know! Still, he got angry "What does it matter to you? Just leave me alone!" 

"It matters to me, because it will hurt Steven and I want to protect him," she explained him.

"Pff- why would he get hurt? I'm an  _interchangeable_  friend and he must have hundreds of other friends! If I stay,  _I_ will get hurt! But of course, no one would care about that..." he averted his eyes.  _Steven will get hurt_ \- no, he won't! Also, his feelings could be important  _just once_ as well! Not everything was about him! 

Garnet sighed. Humans could be so difficult at times. Well ok, gems could be too... "But he  **does** care and you are  **special** to him. And trust me, leaving will be your  _end_. You will last four weeks maximum and then kill yourself. Is that really, what you want?" she pointed out to him. Maybe if she got a little more aggressive, he would listen.

"Oh, of course!  _I_ am special- like everyone else! If every friend of his is special, no one is! Just shut up, you don't even know me!" he hissed in anger. And what if he did it? He didn't plan on living forever anyway.

"No. I will  **not** let this happen. I give you one final choice: You tell Steven about this and your  _other feelings_ today or  _I_ will. And if everything else fails, I will bubble you and put you in our temple like a corrupted gem to keep you safe," she threatened and proceeded to leave the room and a stunned Lars behind. It had not been planned, that she had to intervene. Still, if Lars left it would break Steven's heart and the chances of him going  _dark_ increase significantly. She didn't know, what going dark would mean in the end, but it couldn't be good.  And even if her future vision was seriously handicapped right now, she would prevent this. She really hoped, Steven would stop being so unpredictable soon. Every time Sapphire tried to foretell things that were more than a few days in the future, it was an utter mess. She was fairly well accustomed to the future changing often due to Ruby, but not like this. It almost physically  _hurt_ to watch it. She could tell what would happen this day rather reliably now, but nothing more. Even tomorrow brought thousands of possible paths, an impossibility to comprehend their causes and how they related to each other. Garnet was useless.

~~~~

Visiting Lars was so cool! Steven absolutely loved the zombie's parents and house. And the meal they would get would be the most delicious thing, he ever ate- he just knew it! And well, Lars was there too, so this would be perfect. He had missed him a lot and it had been so exciting to hug him, even if it was short. Lars was special. He felt cold to the touch, but it was still pleasant. Despite being rather slim, he also felt super comfy and soft! Steven wished he could hug him more, but the commander would not approve. It was a wonder, he was even allowed to hug him in the first place. Steven knew, he stood no chance at winning Lars over. But still, he could  _pretend_. He watched on in mild awe, as Lars brought more and more food outside. The zombie walked around gracefully and with the movement of his cape, it looked utterly handsome. 

But either way the diamond noticed, that something was off. Lars looked kind of emotionless and was really quiet. He had greeted him, but nothing more. The other also seemed to avoid him, placing lots of space between himself and the hybrid. But why? Was he mad, because Steven had not texted him that often? But no, Lars found him annoying, so it couldn't be. But he had not done anything else to make him dislike him more, had he? Steven had really tried to be cool for him and not be nuisance! Perhaps Lars was sad because of something or someone else then? Out of nowhere, Garnet excused herself and went inside. He was quite confused- what did she plan to do? Still, he shrugged it off. Perhaps she had forgotten something in the van.

He spoke to his own dad for a little then. "So how are things going on Homeworld, little rock-star? You have hardly told me anything!" his dad pointed out. He really hadn't. Steven rarely saw his dad anymore, as he was gone so often and afterwards needed to rest some. He also needed to see all his friends, so he had even less time for him. 

"Oh they're fine, I guess. WD is a little scary and also rather stubborn, but I'll surely become friends with her soon enough," he smiled.

"You know kiddo, I'm proud of you. This is a very important task and you're still so young, but you do it anyway! If you ever need help, I am here! I can surely work the  _old Universe charm_ on her, too!" he laughed. 

"Please no, dad...," his son whined in agony. If he did that, Earth was doomed for good. After a while Garnet returned with nothing. She simply went up to Pearl and talked to her. Steven decided not to pry; he shouldn't be suspicious of his allies- especially not, if he was the one borderline betraying them. He prayed Garnet wouldn't see anything and jump to conclusions. But today was not the day to think about politics. He noticed Lars' absence had been far too long. He had been gone for half an hour already and his parents also looked rather puzzled. He decided to investigate and went up to Martha "Uh, hi! Where has Lars gone off to? I hardly spoke to him until now..."

She smiled apologetically "Oh, I don't know either. H-He's been in a bad mood lately. Don't worry about it, though. I'm sure, he'll come here later." She knew very well, why her son was acting so strangely. He couldn't bear seeing his crush and was probably sulking in his room now. Young love...but she was certain, it would all work out in the end. 

"Yeah, I noticed that. But why? Did I upset him or something?" he had to know. If he did, he could never forgive himself.

"No, you didn't. He's just being a little silly, that's all," she told him. If she told him the real reason, Laramie would only hate her. So she best not say anything. 

That was weird. As far as he knew, no one else hurt him either. Well, that was due the zombie not leaving his house anymore. He let it slide for now, but when the food was ready and Lars had still not returned, he got worried.


	5. Honesty

He had to leave  **now**. When Garnet left, Lars sneaked up the stairs to his room. He couldn't see Steven's disappointment in him with his own eyes. He would tell him, he was a sicko and Steven did not love him. And he would not let himself be imprisoned, either! He pulled a large rucksack from under his bed and opened it. While being quick about it, he stuffed some of his favorite clothes inside. Next came piercings, shoes, electronics... He could not take everything, but the more he took, the less he would have to buy anew. At the thought of really doing this, tears began forming themselves. He was such a coward. He had promised to stay on the diamond's side yesterday and was fleeing now. It would surely ruin the party. But perhaps then they would see, that he was a waste of time and a bad son. 

He walked towards his cupboard and shoved it away from the wall to get to his secret stash. His parents had no idea he had this much money, so he had hid it. He had been saving this up for years. It had always been his plan to leave this city, but for different reasons. Beach City sucked and was in the middle of nowhere; not at all, what a teen like him wanted for his life. He collected his small fortune, that was stored in a large envelope. He turned around to get to the bag on his bed, but let the envelope fall in shock, letting money slip out of it.

"What are you doing- what is that bag and money for?! A-Are you  _leaving_?" Steven stammered in shock. He walked over to the bag and looked through it without permission. Indeed the zombie had packed most of his belongings into it. He looked up again and saw tears streaming down Lars' face, who looked down in shame. When he didn't get an answer, he went up to him and angrily shook him by the shoulders " **Talk** to me! Lars, what is going on with you?"

He shoved the diamond away and regained his composure. While collecting the money, he spat out "It's none of your business, Steven! Go downstairs again and have fun with the others."

However, Steven was having none of it and simply grasped Lars' wrist. The commander tried to pry it of to no avail- he stood no chance against the diamond's strength, if the latter wanted to. "No!  **Tell** me the truth! What is wrong with you? You can't just leave- you  _promised_ to stay with me!" the gem exclaimed. He had been unbelievably happy at the vow and now it was just a lie.

"T-Things changed! I realized something and now I want to go. I don't want to stay in this fucking city anymore- no one cares anyway!" the teen exclaimed, trying to escape again.

" _I_ care!" Steven declared. He cared more about Lars than anyone else. And he knew others liked him as well.

The older boy laughed sadly "You care for everyone Steven, it doesn't count! Now, let me go! Trust me, you all will be much happier with me out of the way. I'm a useless failure and a bad friend." Most importantly, Steven would never care for him, like he cared for Connie. 

The diamond felt helpless. He had to convince him of the opposite. Instead of letting him free, he pulled at the arm and hugged Lars. "No- I care for everyone, but for you  _especially_! You aren't a failure and you are a very good friend! M-More than that to me! Don't leave me alone..." he begged him desperately. He couldn't do all of this alone, despite some people thinking that. He was a diamond and not a super hero! He couldn't deal with WD's bargain and the loss of Lars at the same time. Lars was the only one, who understood him! He was also not quite human, like him! When he didn't get an answer, he knew he had to say it. At least he would have tried! Even if he said no, he would at least find some peace. He whispered "Don't you see, how much you mean to me? I-I brought you back from the dead- it doesn't work with just anyone, Lars. I... I love you, ok? S-So please, d-don't leave me!" Had he just actually confessed to his crush? He felt like fainting...

"...Y-You love  _me_? In what kind of way?" Lars had to be sure. 

Embarrassed, Steven hid his face in the zombie's shirt. "In the, uh I-want-to-be-your-boyfriend-way..." he admitted more clearly. Was Lars making fun of him?

He didn't know, how to feel. All his worries had been for naught. He felt shitty for insulting his parents and Garnet now as well. But he was so glad, his feelings were returned... He was kind of speechless, but that quickly changed, once he felt a wet patch on his shirt and Steven sobbing. He must have thought, thst his feelings were not returned. At least he wasn't the only moron here. "S-Steven, uh I love you as well...That's why I wanted to leave. I thought you were together with Connie..." he half-asked.

"Wha-What? C-Connie?! Are you crazy? She's my best friend, nothing more! And I thought you simply hated me!" the diamond exclaimed. A few tears were still falling down his cheeks.

Lars smiled and he had stopped crying "I would never hate you. I never did and never will. I loved you for a year now and even before that, I found you secretly cute and funny..." He had just been too prideful to admit it. Having a younger friend had been just 'so uncool'.

The hybrid blinked away the last tears in surprise. "Wow...at least I'm not the only idiot. I liked you ever since I knew you, to be honest." 

"Hm, exactly my thoughts and that's a very long time," the commander said. If he remembered correctly, he had known Steven before he started working at the Big Donut. He had started at 16, so Steven had hidden his feelings for 3-4 years at least. 

"So...you will stay now?" the diamond reluctantly wanted to be told, but Lars nodded. "A-And are we, you know, b-boyfriends now?" he asked further, while looking up at him in hope.

The younger one looked so adorable- were his pupils diamond shaped? He wasn't sure, he had only seen it for a second and then it was gone. He was surely imagining things. "Uh, sure. I would love to be yours," he promised and Steven embraced him again, doing a happy squealing sound. Well...what shall he do now? He kind of longed to kiss the other, but he wasn't sure about it. Even though Steven was nearly 15 by now, he looked so innocent. What if it would scare him or he found it to be weird? Also, he would feel all sorts of wrong, if  _he_ initiated it. He was 3 1/2 years older than him; it would feel like he was abusing that. Later in life, it was not that much- but now? He decided to go at Steven's pace, whatever that may be. For now, he hugged the other while closing his eyes and finally got to inhale his sweet smell. If he were a real zombie, Steven would definitely be his first victim- he would just  _devour_ him.

Once he opened his eyes again tough, he regretted ever doing it. His  _stupid_ mom was standing in the doorway and smirked at him, she mouthed an "I told you!" before going away. However, she motioned for them to come as well. Steven had seen her as well, as he had wondered, why his  _boyfriend_ was tensing up all of a sudden.

"Steven, we should really go downstairs now...but I'll just unpack my bag real quick," he whispered. Luckily for him, his mom had been too in awe at their display and had not seen the money and rucksack. Steven grunted in disapproval, but then helped him put everything in it's place again. When they were finished, Lars looked at him apologetically and warned "Uuh, my parents might pester you now with questions and stuff. I know they are rather embarrassing, sorry."

"I'm sure it'll be alright; I like your parents- they are awesome! And I kind of want to tell everyone about this, if it's ok..." Steven proposed. He was rather proud of his  _catch_ , so everyone should know of this! Connie would be so glad for him!

"E-Everyone? Well, if you want to; I don't mind really. At least then all the others will know, you are not available anymore, as you are  _mine_ ~," Lars giggled. He wasn't someone, who got extremely possessive mostly, but it might change with the diamond. There must have been lots of competition after all. 

The younger boy blushed and shook his head. It was kind of ridiculous to say, that a diamond belonged to  _anyone_ really. But either way, he didn't mind to have Lars being jealous and possessive over him. He followed his boyfriend downstairs and into the garden. They were of course stared at. They had been gone for some time now and Martha had most certainly told them of her discovery. A little awkward, the two sat down next to each other on the big table and they could  _feel_ the knowing smirks deep within their entire beings. 

Dante stood up and declared "Now that the main two people are here again, let's start! Let's celebrate our son's resurrection- Steven, the Barrigas are very grateful for what you did. I know we can't ever repay you for gifting our son life again. Anyway we hope, that this party can somehow show you, how much we thank you!" 

The diamond became red as a tomato and clearly wished to be somewhere else. He didn't seem to know, what to do either. However, Lars squeezed his hand beneath the table in support and the diamond went on to say "T-Thank you for this, but you don't have to repay anything. I did not do it, because I wanted a reward, but because I couldn't loose Lars..." 

"So very humble, indeed. A very good catch son," Dante winked and chuckled, then told everyone to eat. Laramie sighed in embarrassment, but his boyfriend looked glad. Steven was happy, he was accepted just like that. 

"Your son isn't that bad himself, Dante!" Greg happily chirped and Lars felt relieved as well. 

The commander put diverse food onto his plate, but not too much. He had already tested everything and his dad too, so he was confident everyone would enjoy it. From the gems, Amethyst ate most and Garnet also quite a lot. Pearl got herself to chew on a bit of bread, but nothing else. What surprised him, was that his boyfriend had almost nothing on his plate besides two sausages and a boring salad. He turned towards him, leaned downwards and whispered "Something wrong? You usually eat more than that."

The diamond became red again at having his personal space invaded. "I...It's complicated. I don't really have that big of an appetite anymore, sorry... Not just here I mean, but in general. But I'll eat more than that, if you recommend me something? Not too much though," he looked truly sorry. 

That was simply scary. Not to be offensive, but Steven ate  _too much_ on a regular basis and now he lost his appetite? Lars would speak to him later about that. He prayed that the other didn't do this, because he wanted to get thinner for him. He liked Steven the way he was! Either way, he put his own favorite salad and a steak on the diamond's plate as wished. The diamond thanked him, but he said silently "It's alright, but we'll talk about this later, ok?" The other nodded in approval. Steven wanted to tell Lars lots of other stuff anyway. 

"Aww, you two are just too cute!" Martha cooed. 

"Mom, no..." he whined. Of course she would do this! Trying to avoid any more embarrassments, he refrained from getting closer to his boyfriend again. While munching on a piece of steak, he let his eyes shift towards Garnet. He couldn't see, if she was looking at him too. However, she held her thumbs up and then returned to her salad. She must have known, he had tried to flee immediately and that it would fail. Couldn't she have told him, the diamond loved him as well? He watched on as the hybrid next to him ate reluctantly. He hoped to be able to talk to him soon, he felt really concerned. 


	6. The talk

Once they had finished eating, everyone kind of scattered around the garden and talked to each other. Lars himself pulled his boyfriend to a rather secluded corner and they sat down on the grass across from each other at first. From here they could see everyone fairly well, but they could not be eavesdropped on easily. Perfect for a private talk. "So, why weren't you eating like usually? Steven, if this is about loosing weight..." Lars implied.

"N-No, it's not that. My form depends on how I feel anyway- if I wanted to, I could be really skinny. I-It's more a gem-matter than anything else," he corrected his boyfriend. The latter looked rather puzzled at that. While talking, the diamond began playing with the grass below him "Ever since I've been to Homeworld, I kind of got closer to my 'gem side' so to say. You know that gems don't need to eat, right? For a while now, I lost my need for food completely. I've tried it- I went a few days without food and I didn't even feel hungry. But there are also other things. I've gotten way better at controlling my abilities! I can float and summon my shield without a problem. Shapeshifting is rather easy too. I struggled so much with it only a few weeks earlier, though..."

"But is that a bad thing? It sounds kinda handy to me," the zombie asked. He did not see the problem. Steven getting stronger was good!

The hybrid explained "It is handy, yes. But it just isn't a good sign. I am scared to loose my human side, Lars. What if I become a full blown diamond? They aren't bad people per se, but they just don't see their mistakes! If it were for them, Earth would be colonized and all life destroyed- what if I want that too all of a sudden?"

"Nah, I don't think you would. Perhaps you are only going through this, because you know who you really are now or because you are getting older? I don't think you'd ever hurt anyone," the commander smiled at him and petted the other's thigh.

Steven took the hand and held it. "I don't know...I really don't. Not even Garnet knows. Ever since I became a diamond, her future vision has gone haywire and she can't foretell more than the span of a day. Even that is often wrong. And there are...other things." He couldn't let the others hear. He shifted way closer to his boyfriend and whispered "Do you trust me? You can never tell anyone of what I'm saying to you now, ok? Not your parents, friends, the CG's or even Homeworld gems."

"Uuh, of course I trust you! I promise not to tell anyone," he vowed. What could be so secret, he could not tell anyone? Especially in that context...

The diamond looked around again and made sure, no one was there to hear. He silently said "There is a reason, no one attends the meetings between me and White Diamond and it's not her being shy. We are discussing various options on how we can resolve  _everything_. As of now, there are only two options left: The first one is me joining the Diamond Authority and betraying everything the Crystal Gems stood for, but as Earth is my colony, I can protect it. If I join, corruption will be reversed and I might have enough power to change something on Homeworld. The other one... is us curing corruption and Earth being  _forgotten_ by Homeworld. However... I will be shattered afterwards. The Homeworld gems will be told the truth about me being a traitor, so there won't be resistance."

Lars' eyes got wide- he couldn't mean it! "S-So either you become a traitor or you'll be  _killed_?! Steven, this is madness! There must be another option-" he began whispering intently.

His boyfriend shook his head in sadness "No, there isn't. If I decline both, the war will start anew. Lars, we stand  **no** chance against three diamonds and an army of a few million gems. We wouldn't even stand a chance against White alone- her powers are almost godlike. I have to decide on one option."

"H-How long have you got, until you have to decide?" the zombie asked in fear.

"Tomorrow," the other smiled. 

Lars embraced the other- both options were horrendous! "W-Which one do you prefer?" he wanted to know. He couldn't loose him and see him shattered! The other shrugged. "Please don't sacrifice yourself again! I know it might be selfish, but I can't endure you dying," Lars voted for the first option.

"You want me to become a real diamond and  _reign_? I...I don't know what to do! I-If I died, Earth could finally live on in peace! All our friends could live their lifes without fear." he told him. His eyes began tearing up in frustration. This was so unfair- why did he have to decide?

"But what if she lies to you and colonizes Earth, when you are gone? The second option has got so many risks... and all for you not being called a traitor by the CG's? Steven, no!" he whispered again, while holding the other.

"I..." the other stammered. Lars had a point. Choice one was the safest route and the most peaceful one. He looked up at the other "Y-You are right... W-When I go to Homeworld tomorrow, will you come with me? I-I can't go alone...a-and I honestly think I won't leave the place that often afterwards."

"Yes, I promised to stay on your side, so I will accompany you. Even if that means, we'll  leave this place behind. You don't have to do this alone!" the commander began vowing again. He loved Steven and not much was keeping him here anyway. He would be gone already, if it weren't for Steven.

"Thank you... I love you," he was told.

He returned the words, but noticed the diamond's eyes had changed. This time it lasted longer as well. "What's up with your eyes? They are like a normal diamond's..." he asked and cocked his head.

In shame he willed them away again. He had not been supposed to see. He said "I-It's nothing. They sometimes do that without me noticing" 

"No, don't make it go away! They are pretty, I promise," Lars whined at them disappearing. He cupped the others face with his hands, encouraging him to do it again.

"Y-You think so? It doesn't unsettle you at all, although you know the meaning behind them? Everyone else would freak out!" Steven asked in awe. No one else would say so.

The pink zombie chuckled "You might be a diamond, but you are still  _my_ diamond- Steven! I'm not scared or angry at that at all. It's a part of you and you should not have to hide it. Also, if I can't hide my fancy pink skin, you can't hide your pink eyes! Show some solidarity,  _love_. And even if you become more diamond than human, it does not have to be all bad. Don't be ashamed of who you are or how you look." Seemingly convinced, the diamond reverted his eyes to their intended nature. 

"I wish the others would think so as well... I even thought about turning my gem before, but yeah, they would get angry. But I guess it won't matter anymore tomorrow. Lars, thank you. I-It means a lot, that someone accepts this," he gratefully exclaimed. Just now he noticed, how close they were. Lars was still holding his face and stroking his cheeks, their faces inches apart. Also, Steven kind of sat in the others lap from the hugging. He began blushing. Even in his age he knew, what was  _supposed_ to come next. But why wasn't the other doing anything? Didn't he want to? His boyfriend asked, what was bothering him again; he must have frowned. He didn't answer and instead just went for it. They were  _boyfriends_ , so it would be okay.  _He hoped_. Steven closed the distance between them, sealing the other's lips with his. The zombie's cool lips against his felt nice on this warm summer day. 

He was a little startled at first, but greedily kissed those warm, plump lips nevertheless. Despite feeling a little guilty, he let one hand slide lower to Steven's waist to press him against him. The other hand wandered down to his neck, also demanding more. Poor Steven probably had only wanted a chaste little peck and nothing more, but he couldn't help it! He tasted utterly sweet and the mewls he produced were heavenly. His image of innocence was destroyed however, when a tongue began demanding entrance. How could he say no to that? It was so nice to hold the other- he was warm and soft. The warmth only seemed hotter to him, as he himself was so cold. Their little session stopped far too early though, as Steven needed to breathe. His breathing was rather labored, his lips redder than usual and his eyes only half open. Meanwhile Lars looked like nothing had happened. That changed though, when he saw the onlookers near his house. Their three parents looked rather shocked and were awkwardly staring at them. He should have kept the kiss  a little more innocent perhaps...

Trying to ignore their parents, Lars resumed their conversation silently "When will you tell the others?"

"I-I don't know. What do you think? Should I tell them now or afterwards? They will surely freak out...," the diamond looked down, calming down a little. 

"Hm... it would certainly seem more honest, if you told them beforehand.  _I_ would get angry, if I were them and you did not tell them now. But they might try to stop you, which would be really  _bad_..." he weighed the options. It would be emotionally easier to do it now. Steven needed the support of his family, he could not loose them. As he had said, he could not do this alone. While Lars was a big help, it wasn't nearly enough. Uncertain himself, Lars patted his boyfriend's side. 

The diamond sighed in distress "Perhaps we should just tell them now. I-If they really attack me, I'll manage. I'm not  _that_ helpless anymore, I guess. But uh... will you help me talk to them? Just so you know, you'll become a traitor as well..." 

"Of course I will," he told him and leaned in again. To comfort the other he kissed him again, but a little more  _chaste_. Beneath his hand resting on Steven's neck, he could feel his heartbeat being far too fast. He could understand, he was a little anxious as well. 

 


	7. Another talk

Once Steven had at least  _somewhat_ calmed down, they stood up and went up to the others. They told everyone to sit down again, at which they looked quite confused. What were they planning? Garnet had a few ideas and she was unsure, whether she liked them or not. This conversation would open up a thousand paths again- how was she supposed to deal with that? When everyone was sitting at the table, they looked expectantly at the new couple. The gems immediately noticed the hybrid's eyes, but Steven interrupted them, before they could ask. "Guys, there are some things I haven't told you. You all know, that I have been talking to White Diamond-" he began saying and Pearl cringed at the name. "- for some time now. I told you we were negotiating, but not what that really was all about. S-She gave me two options now and either I agree to one of them, or they will declare war tomorrow," he went on.

" **What**?!" Pearl exclaimed "W-We can't fight another gem war- we are only a dozen people! A-And without Rose no one will join us! Steven-  _what are the options_?" She could not take another useless war. Especially not, when Pink Diamond was gone. The  _real one_ at least. She had been the only reason, she had ever rebelled. Meanwhile the others sat wide-eyed and shocked at the table, too.

"Why haven't you told us earlier!?" Amethyst shouted. They could have done something- recruited people! 

The diamond felt like crying. He had never dealt well with being shouted at by his family. Still he went on "Option number one is that I will join the Diamond Authority and we'll reverse corruption in return. Earth remains my colony and I'll need to get resources from it, but I'd surely manage to preserve life."

Garnet shook her head "Completely out of the question. Steven- many gems  _died,_ because we fought for our freedom. If you join them, their sacrifices will be for nothing!" How could he? They had raised him in their ways, so he would understand! 

"Yes, Garnet is right. And also, saving Earth will be near impossible. Taking resources from it will destroy it sooner or later. A-And you have little to no idea, how to even rule! You could never achieve anything. No. What is the other option?" Pearl added. This was ridiculous. White only wanted Steven to join, so no one would question the diamonds.

Instead of answering, Steven began tearing up. This was it- he would be shattered tomorrow! They had to be right, they had so much more experience than him. Lars got upset at them for making him cry. As the diamond was unable to speak, he did "Option two is, that they will cure corruption and leave Earth alone-"

Amethyst didn't let him finish "- great! Why do you even have a problem deciding? Sure, we'll never reach the gems on Homeworld and better their lives, but at least Earth is safe!"

He laughed bitterly " Did you really think, that was it? That we would be let of the hook this easily? If we accept this, Steven will be  _shattered_! Do you seriously want to sacrifice him, after all he has done for you? And we  **don't** have a problem deciding, as we already did. We are merely informing you, that we chose the first option!" How dare they even consider letting him die? The diamond had risked his life countless times for them and missed out on a normal childhood. 

It became dead silent, only Steven's sobbing could be heard. He was so thankful Lars was with him. Without him, he would have chosen the other option for sure. Greg was the first to speak "Well... I'm against sacrificing my son! The other option isn't that nice either, but better than war or death! A-And the diamonds aren't _that_ bad. B-Blue and Pink were nice enough! I-I'm sure, the others will be too." His son was relieved to hear that, even though the last statement wasn't completely right.

"Greg, you hardly know anything about them!" Pearl shouted at him "White Diamond is not  _nice_ \- not even to her sisters. She'll demand absolute loyalty from Steven no matter what and he'll have to do what she says. If he doesn't, she won't think twice about harvesting him and he'll be just like- like her _Pearl_! We can't allow this!"

"We will  **not** let Steven die!" Garnet ordered. Everything was better than this! How could Pearl even propose this? 

Amethyst muttered "...there is another option. Listen- I know this sounds crazy, but we could try to defeat White Diamond! Blue and Yellow are on our side! I-If she's gone, we won't have to chose any of these things!" 

Lars shouted "That's plain suicide! As far as I know, you weren't even able to defeat Blue and Yellow! And like hell will they attack their oldest sibling-  _would you_?" Then they could let Steven get shattered right away...

Pearl contemplated her proposal. "... It  _could_ work. I mean- It  _is_ totally insane, but there is a chance. White is strong, but even she won't stand a chance against three diamonds and our other allies. That is, if we can convince Blue and Yellow..."

The diamond awoke from his anxiety "Yeah, there is a chance. A-And I kind of observed something with White too... In the four weeks I've interacted with her, she never  _moved_ \- she's always plugged into her ship. That can't be normal, right? Maybe she got weaker?"

"... She still did not move  _at all_?" Pearl asked in suspicion. Together with White Pearl's behavior, it suddenly all made sense. White had been this weird for thousands of years now...She had thought, it was some kind of injury at first, but it took too long for that. The other diamonds also had healing abilities. "It wasn't the real White Diamond- I can't believe she fell this low! Steven...you know how the made-up people in Rose's room behave-" she implied.

"They are exactly the same- B-But how? White Pearl was this weird outside as well and Blue and Yellow didn't bat an eye!" the diamond exclaimed. The people in his room floated as well and never listened to him... 

Pearl went on "Perhaps they don't know better, because White is doing it to them as well. This would also explain, why White never leaves her ship and palace. The illusion  _can't_. It only works in certain places. But I don't understand, why she did this! When Pink and I were still on Homeworld, she already was like that- I-I don't know her any differently. Not that I met her often... Pink mostly went to her alone and they were rather close, so there was no need for me to protect her. Pink learned a lot from her, too. I guess she even learned, how to make such a magical room from her as well..."

With that new information, everyone silently thought about it for  a while. It certainly smelled fishy. Dante of all people said "Well I don't know that woman, but she is hiding something severe. Why would she go through all this trouble otherwise? Is she perhaps ill? Or maybe she died and the illusion hides that? I doubt she is only shy..."

Steven shook his head "But gems can't get ill or die just like that... Also, she must have partaken in the corruption beam, right? A-And that couldn't have come from Homeworld itself; it would have taken too long for it to travel here..."

Greg pointed out "But Blue and Yellow said, she hadn't left Homeworld in eons. The beam was  _only_ six thousand years ago..." That wasn't an eon for a diamond. "A-And Blue told us, that they had wanted to  _obliterate_ everyone. Perhaps it didn't work, because  _only_ Blue and Yellow did it. It seemed like White did too, but it was only one of the illusions," he concluded. Shockingly, it made sense. 

"So what?" Lars asked. "Steven still has to agree tomorrow or we're all dead. A-And it won't be of use if we defeat an  _illusion._ We have to find the real one first," he added.

Garnet promised "That won't be a problem. Once I sorted through the futures a little more, I should be able to locate her. Steven's path is a little clearer to me, now that he has decided. Steven, you will go and agree tomorrow. Then we'll find a way to speak to Blue and Yellow and solve this mess once and for all."

As no one disagreed, they settled on doing it that way. 

 

 


	8. The night before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love and suggestions! 
> 
> Sorry if there are any weird mistakes or I take longer than usual. It's just so goddamn warm where I live right now and it's super exhausting to me <.< It's like 38 °C/100.4 °F at times and I'm dying. It hasn't been this warm in years :(

When the day came to a close and everyone prepared to go, Steven couldn't. He wanted to stay with Lars. If something went wrong, he might never see him again or have this opportunity. When he asked Lars, whether they could have a sleep-over, the older one answered "Of course we can. I'm sure my parents won't mind; they love you. A-And I wanted to ask you the same anyway..." The zombie had no intention of letting him go either. He too felt scared of loosing him. Also, he would accompany the diamond tomorrow and then they would need to meet again anyway. Lucky for them, their parents agreed.

Not before Greg pulled Steven aside though in the garden and had a word with him in private "I like your new boyfriend and all, but please be careful, ok?"

"W-What do you mean?" Steven felt confused. Did his dad seriously think, Lars would hurt him? Why?

He should really had had this talk earlier, Greg thought. He often forgot, that Steven would be 15 soon and wasn't a child anymore. "Kiddo...You know- Barriga is almost 18 a-and might want uh... _things_ from you, you are too young to do. Don't let yourself be pressured into something you don't want, k?" he stammered. He wished someone else could explain him that. He himself was such a bad role-model. When he had become a father, he had still been too young himself- he wasn't prepared for any of this.

"Dad-" Steven whined in embarrassment. "I'm not a child anymore and Lars wouldn't do that. He wouldn't even kiss me before on his own...," he pointed out. The diamond had initiated it.

"I'm not so sure about that. Your  _kiss_ was pretty  _intense_. Steven, you aren't yet 15 and only two years ago, you were still disgusted by girls-" Greg didn't agree. He just wanted to protect his son. What if Lars was only toying with Steven or seeing him as a trophy?

He snorted "That's because I'm not interested in girls! Dad, it's ok! Don't worry so much... If I don't want it, I can stop him. I  _am_ stronger than him after all."

He had lost and he knew it. "F-Fine. But if you  _do_   _that_ , stay safe. I-I don't want you to get ill or  _something else_ ," his dad warned. He doubted Steven could really get pregnant, but he surely could form a child by giving up his form like his mom had. The last thing they needed now was another baby or a sick Steven. His son looked at him even more embarrassed. He sighed "I only want you to be safe...I'm sorry."

"N-No, it's ok. Just please don't ever talk about  _that_ again," the hybrid begged. With this settled, he wished him farewell and went inside the house. He found his partner in the kitchen with his parents and wanted to join. However, he was send away.

"Sweetie, we have to discuss something with Laramie first. Just wait in his room, he'll come soon," Martha told him. Would they give his boyfriend the same talk now? Well, at least he would suffer as well. He nodded and went upstairs. Alone in the room, he sat down on the bed and watched some TV.

~~

"So, son," Dante said and closed the kitchens door. Lars didn't like this at all. He looked at them like a deer in headlights and his dad went on to say "There are a few things we'd like to discuss with you, concerning your boyfriend." Stars no, they had had  _the talk_ years ago- he didn't need it  _again_! What did they think he would do later? He hadn't let Steven stay here, so he could sleep with him. He wasn't  _that_ desperate. He nodded slowly and his dad explained "First things first; I'm proud of you for finally speaking to him.  **But** , we saw you two kiss and I don't appreciate that. Not the fact that you did, but  _how_. Son, Steven is  _14_! You can't take advantage of him like that, he doesn't even know, what you do and whether he wants that. And don't even  _think_ of going further than that! Greg will kill us, if you do!"

"D-Dad! I won't  _advance on him_ or anything. I didn't even initiate the kiss- it was him! I'll let him decide, how far we go- that was my plan from the beginning! I'm not some kind of pervert..." the zombie pointed out a little angrily. They got it all wrong! 

Martha had faith in her son, but still "That's good, but you shouldn't let him just do anything either. Even if he wants to advance, don't do it. If you do, you'll be grounded for eternity! At least wait until he's 16, Laramie. He's too  _young_." 

As if he could ever talk the diamond out of it. Either way, he said "I will give my best to do that." He couldn't promise anything though. He was only 'human' as well- he couldn't resist forever. 

Dante nodded approvingly. "Now to the other things. Laramie... what is your plan concerning Steven going to that alien-planet?" he asked.

"I promised to accompany him," he dryly stated. His parents would surely forbid him to do so now, but he didn't care. This was more important than being punished. Steven couldn't do this on his own and he'd miss the other like mad, if he left him.

His mom shook her head "Honey, you can't. It is far too dangerous! We don't know much about this stuff, but we know you  _died_ because of it before. Steven will have to go there with his other friends."

"No mom, he won't. Steven can't do all of this alone; it'll break him. He needs my support. And I won't get hurt! Even if, Steven is there to heal me again," he disobeyed. 

"Son, please don't do this to us. We almost lost you before! We can't go through it again...," his dad pleaded. The months of uncertainty had been utter hell for the two of them. There had been days, where they had not even left their bed or went to work. Lars was their only child, their biggest joy in life- he could not leave them like this.

The zombie looked at them apologetically "I know, but I have to. If Steven fails, we'll  _all_ die, so staying here is pointless. Don't worry, we will succeed and come back safe soon. We have so many friends and allies- we  _can't_ fail. We never do." He didn't want to hurt them, but he had to for the greater good. Truth was, he wasn't sure, if they would win. This was more of a suicide-mission than anything else. But he would willingly give his life for the diamond over and over again. Even if it was permanent. He did not want to live in a world without him, destroyed by White Diamond. 

"Sweetie...please be careful at least. We are so proud of you; you've become so mature. Just don't leave us behind, ok?" Martha more or less agreed to him going. He was very thankful for that and hugged them both.

"I promise I'll be careful!" he exclaimed and left after the embracing. He went up to his room again, where Steven was sitting on his bed and watching the Crying Breakfast Friends. He didn't look too happy himself. The commander sat slightly behind him and encircled his waist with his arms, while nuzzling at his locks. "What's wrong, hm?" he asked in concern.

"Just a little anxious because of tomorrow, don't worry. I-I'm sure everything will be alright. How hard can ruling be? A-And talking to Blue and Yellow will work as well. They like me more than White, I think," he admitted. They had been so glad to see him. When they spoke of WD though, they had been utterly scared and reluctant.

Breathing in his scent happily, Lars agreed "Yeah, probably. And with me at your side, we can only win... What am I even going to do there?" They had only spoken of him coming too, but not, what his job would be.

"Oh...I don't really know. I can surely give you something to do in  _my court_. Hm...perhaps you could be my adviser or something? You have to do something or it will be suspicious. You can surely talk to Blue and Yellow or the CG's for me, keeping them informed discreetly. But you have to do a work, which will cover  your true purpose up. Something that allows you to move freely between the courts and stuff..." the diamond wondered himself. He had little to no idea, what kind of 'jobs' there were on Homeworld. 

"Hm, let's not talk about all that stuff now. l'd rather relax a little, to be honest," the zombie noted. Today had been one big emotional roller-coaster and he felt tired for the first time in months. While he held him, Steven leaned back into him, resting in his arms as well. He also had enough and nodded. Lars found the show to be somewhat stupid- what was even going on? They were only crying! He thanked the gods when the show was over, as he didn't possess the heart to tell his boyfriend, he hated his preferred show. "So...What do you want to watch now? A movie?" the commander proposed.

"If you have some, sure. Do you have any cool action movies?" the diamond beamed. He hadn't had time to watch a movie in weeks.

He told him "Not exactly. I have lots of horror movies, though. I guess there is some action in them too." The diamond shrugged and he stood up to get one. It wasn't one of his favorite, it was more of a dumb parody "This one isn't that scary, it's more funny than anything," he proposed and Steven agreed. When he had started the film, he returned and assumed his original position again. The movie was kind of nice, but touching the diamond was far more interesting. While the other was distracted, he let his hands roam a little- only to appropriate places though! It was great to have his boyfriend so close; he was so warm! Lost in his thoughts, he continued his senseless snuggling.

"Lars?" the diamond asked all of a sudden.

"Hm?" he made. 

Steven had kind of tensed a little and he didn't know why. He had only caressed him innocently, nothing too bad. What was wrong? "C-Could you stop brushing over my stomach? I-It's uncomfortable, if my shirt is dragging over my gem over and over. I can hardly stand covering it as is..." the other whined and grasped for his offending hands. 

"O-Oh, sorry. I should have known I'm not supposed to touch-" the zombie began stammering. He had learned very early on, that gems did not appreciate having their gemstones touched by someone else and he had violated it more than once now. He felt kind of...  _bad_ for it. He didn't really understand, why they did not like it. But he guessed he had just molested his own boyfriend somewhat...

The other chuckled at his dismay "It's ok. I know it's easy to forget sometimes. Even dad does and he's known me my whole life! It doesn't even bother me that you are touching it per se. It really just is that horrible feeling of cloth on it." It felt like sandpaper on skin almost or as if he wasn't getting enough air. It was really weird. Even as a child, he had hated to have it covered. That's also the reason, gem's always put their stones on full display, although it endangered them.

"Y-You don't mind me touching it? But I thought it was really inappropriate to do that! L-Like it would hurt you or something," the zombie pointed out, while Steven stroked his hands.

"That isn't  _totally_ true. It is inappropriate if just anyone does it, but you aren't a stranger. Very close friends, family and well, boyfriends can touch it. I mean, there is no danger of you doing it. You won't poof me after all," he chuckled again. Lars could be so insecure at times, it was a little cute. He wouldn't tell him that of course. He let go the pink hands again, but they uncertainly hovered above his shirt. Snorting yet again, the diamond pulled his shirt up and pressed a hand against the diamond. "See? It's ok!" he reassured the other and returned his attention to the movie. Lars froze for a few seconds- what should or  _could_ he do now? Should he just leave his hand there or move it? He decided it was awkward to leave it there forever, so he wiped over the gemstone with his index finger. The surface was extremely smooth and surprisingly cold, although it should have been warmed by Steven's body heat. Next he became a little more bold and poked at it, pushing it inside- "W-Wait! N-No pushing or pulling! You know there's a pointy side on the other end, right? Y-You'll push it into something and hurt me! A-And if you pull, you'll poof me!" Steven scolded him immediately and he refrained from doing it again. Felling extremely sorry, he placed a chaste kiss on the other's neck. He then settled for only going over it with his thumb once in a while.

"You know, you should really turn the thing. If you fall down or someone punches you, they'll puncture your spine. That can't be healthy," Lars added in mild concern. Really, he was just curious how it would look then. Steven thought about it shortly, but decided for it. He would turn it tomorrow anyway, so why not do it now? When his body became all light for a few seconds, Lars almost got an heart-attack. He knew, what was happening, but it was still scary. When his boyfriend was done, he inspected the gemstone again. "I like this position better, I think- it's way safer, too," he expressed his opinion and the other nodded. He stroked over it again and cuddled the other more- he wished to do this every day from now on. While thinking about having  _his_ diamond for himself forever, he absently kissed his neck again. He couldn't get enough of this. 

He could feel Steven taking in a sharp breath anytime he did it, but did not care. He probably just wasn't used to it. He  _hoped_ he wasn't used to it. A knock on his door distracted him though and his mom entered. "Hey you two- still awake? Just wanted to say goodnight!" she told them awkwardly. They wished her goodnight as well and she left.

"You mother is so nice!" the diamond chirped.

He shook his head "Suuure- Steven, she only wanted to check on us and nothing more." She really doubted he could keep his promise, it seemed. As if he would  _ravage_  Steven right here and then, ignoring all threats. 

"Check on us? Why? Is this about them talking to you before?" he asked. What did she think, they'd do? He had a suspicion however.

He sighed and explained "They don't want me to do something to you." The diamond turned around in his lap however and asked him to elaborate. "Uuh... they think, I will-  _you know_ , sleep with you. I-I told them though, I wouldn't. I mean you are only 14 and I am 17," he told him. Perhaps the diamond worried about being pressured into it as well?

The other looked a little offended "My dad told me the exact same thing- does everyone here think, I'm still a child?" He wasn't! He knew exactly, how all of this worked!

He didn't really know, what to make of that. "I don't think, you are a child..." he assured him. The way he had kissed him before, had broken that illusion. However, it was too early for this.

"Yes, you do! If you didn't, you would have kissed me first and you would sleep with me now! Lars, my gemstone is over six thousand years old!" the diamond growled in frustration. 

"B-But the gemstone isn't completely you! A-And sex isn't everything- can't we wait? Some people are together for years and only do it, when they are married! I don't think, I would be comfortable doi-" he was interrupted by a pair of lips on his. He had no idea on what was going on, but he couldn't say no to kissing! When he felt the other's tongue brushing against his lips, he was already too far gone. Realistically, he knew Steven was planning something or trying to shut him up... but he was too addicted to that mouth to stop and ask. He embraced the other closer again and happily smooched him. They occasionally let go, so the diamond could breathe, but instantly went on. He didn't really think of anything, fully immersed in the moment. That stopped however, when his boyfriend ground into him- "S-Steven, don't!" he whined. It became rather apparent, what the other was planning. The other didn't seem to listen though and pulled him into another kiss, continuing to push into him. He couldn't lie, he  _enjoyed_ it greatly. Perhaps even some stifled moans came out of him.  _He had to stop this_. If he got too needy from this, he would not be able to restrain himself and he would be  _killed_ by their parents. Forcefully he turned them around and pushed the other into the mattress, while holding down his hands. "I said stop!" he whispered.

The other cooed "Sorry I didn't take it seriously, when you  _moaned_ like that!" He wanted this and so should Lars. He pushed one of his legs up and made it grind against the others crotch. The zombie couldn't do much. He could only prevent it, if he let go of the diamond's hands. Not that Steven could not easily free himself- it was fun to annoy the other.

"Nngh- Steven, no! Our parents will kill me, if they find out! And I don't want to!" Lars moaned. Despite his best efforts though, he became hard and pushed back into the leg.

"Then we'll have to make sure, they won't know," the diamond stated with a smirk. When he had enough of his boyfriend not doing anything, he abused his diamond strength to reverse their positions. He sat directly on top of Lars' stiffness, while holding his arms with one hand. He dove down to seal the pink lips again and humped the other repeatedly. 

When the other needed to stop for a breath again, the zombie begged "Please stop- Why can't we wait?!" He didn't want to go so fast!

"Because we might not even get another chance! Don't you understand? We could die in the next few days- j-just let me do this!" the diamond pleaded. Why wouldn't Lars accept this? He didn't want to die without having shared this with his boyfriend! He needed this- this was needed to have a functioning relationship! If they didn't do this, they weren't really together! "N-Now just relax-" he tried to calm him down. Perhaps he needed to be more convincing? He shifted downwards a little more and opened up the buttons to Lars' trousers-

"NO! Steven, I said  **no**! Stop it!" he shouted at him and the other stilled. However, he still did not move away or get his hand out of his pants, so he threatened "If you don't stop, I  **will not** come with you tomorrow!" This seemed to get through to the other and he  _finally_ let him go. Angrily, the zombie pushed him of and onto the ground. "What is wrong with you?! You can't just- do you even know, what you tried to do?" he threw at him.  _"_ **Fuck**! Steven, you can't just  _force_ me! I love you, I really do, but I won't tolerate this. If I want to wait, you will have to accept it! We have been together for six  **fucking** hours! Six! And it will end at six, if you try that again! My body is not yours for the taking! And what if we die without doing it, huh? It's better than- than  _raping_ me! I don't even- is this the only reason, why you wanted to stay here?!" he continued shouting, while the diamond began crying.

"I didn't f-force you! Y-You enjoyed it too!" he sobbed. That had not been his intention- he would never hurt the undead one.

"How would you call sex without consent, huh? And no, I did not! I can't believe I have to explain this to you- but, after all, you are  _too young_! Men can get hard, even if they don't like it!" he angrily explained. Not knowing what to do, he stomped through his room in circles.

He whimpered "I just wanted us to be real boyfriends! A-And a real couple would sleep with each other!" 

He came closer to the other, frightening him "Are you seriously implying now, that I don't love you?! Why are you even here then?" He couldn't believe this. 

"N-No!" he denied it, but it didn't seem to convince the other. 

"Why then would you even say that?" Lars hissed.

His shirt got wet from all the tears that soaked it. "I-I don't know- I... Isn't this what couples do? I thought-" he said between sobs.

"Some couples yes, but not  _every_ couple! This is why I did not want to sleep with you- you don't know anything! You don't even know, what you would have gotten yourself into, do you? You've probably seen some cheesy romance movie and now think yourself to be an expert, huh? Tell me, what would we have done, hm? If you are so mature, you surely know!" Lars growled and towered in front of him. Steven was just one little liar! 

He still sniffled and admitted "I-I... we would have t-touched each other until-"

"What the hell, Steven! That's not how it works! Sex isn't just jerking each other off, you dense idiot! I can't believe this!" he exclaimed in a mixture of shock and amusement. Stars, had he lost control and  _actually_ slept with the diamond...

When the hybrid saw Lars going closer to the door, he begged "No! Don't leave me- I'm sorry! I-I just wanted us to be happy!" He felt so stupid. He should have listened to his dad and the zombie. Now he had ruined their relationship!

He really should go. He  _should_. But he couldn't stand Steven still sitting on the floor with tears running down his cheeks and being terrified. He loved that  _fool_. Stressed out he combed through his hair with one hand and sighed in frustration. The diamond had not known better.  He did have good intentions like always, even if he had behaved like a moron. "We  _are_ happy, you idiot. I won't leave you, but if you ever try to do this again, I will. We will do this, once you actually know what it entails and I will not do it, because we might die! I want this to be special, you know? Now... let's just go to sleep," he comforted him, but Steven asked, where he should even sleep. "Seriously? In  _my bed_ \- did turning your gemstone make you loose brain-cells?" he insulted him lightly. This boy would be the death of him. When the diamond stood up, but only uncertainly stood at one place, he went on "What?"

"I-I don't have pj's or anything..." he blushed. He knew Lars slept commando, but he surely wouldn't now and he himself would neither! As he had stayed at the Barriga's house right away, he of course had not brought anything with him.

"Sometimes you're just too cute," the pirate laughed and shook his head. This whole situation was simply too ridiculous. He went over to his dresser, opened it and took out a large shirt of his. While throwing it at Steven, he said "Wear that, then." Why couldn't he simply sleep in his undies? It's not like he had anything to hide or like it was too cold. Steven even went to the bathroom to change. "Wants to have sex, but is shy of me seeing him..." he murmured to himself. Unbelievable. He thanked every god he knew, that he had not went along with it. When Steven returned, Lars was still undressing himself. The former blushed and wanted to leave again, but he made fun of him "Seriously? You've seen me naked before and had your hand down my pants ten minutes ago! Just stay here." It's not like he would go commando anyway. Still, the other blushed like mad and stood around uselessly, trying not to peek. He really looked all sorts of adorable in his own shirt, the commander noted. He put his own clothes aside and lay down on one side of the bed. Steven  _still_ stood. "Will you come here now?" the older one cocked his head.

"A-Are you sure...? I-I could sleep on the couch, too..." the other didn't want to make his boyfriend even  more uncomfortable. The latter however sat up and pulled him onto the mattress in frustration. The hybrid then covered himself with the blanket and wanted to sulk about his own failures in life.

That wasn't going to happen though, as the zombie pulled at him, so he would be closer. Next thing he knew, he was being spooned. "You are an idiot, just so you know. But you are  _my_ idiot and I love you," was whispered behind him. 

"I love you as well and I'm sorry," he replied and the arms around him embraced him more. They even went as far as to shove the shirt up, so his gem could be embraced, too. How did he deserve such a nice boyfriend, who forgave him? He did not know. Soon  _both_ of them fell asleep, cuddling throughout the whole night. 

 

 


	9. The morning after

The next morning was kind of awkward. Despite knowing he had been forgiven, Steven still felt like an utter failure. The fact he would go to Homeworld in a few hours did not comfort him at all. They went down to the kitchen, wanting to say goodbye. They had to leave fairly early after all. Lars' parents were currently sitting at the table and having breakfast. Martha chirped "Hey guys! Do you want to eat anything?"

Lars declined "No, we have to go and we aren't hungry anyway." He felt kind of sorry for leaving this abruptly, but he had no choice. They then quickly wished them goodbye before they could stop them. They looked all kinds of upset and sad, but the zombie couldn't help it. He would be home soon again, he was sure...

~~~~

Being in a space-ship was kind of nice, as he immediately felt at home. The only disappointment was, he was not the one to fly it. To be quite honest, the diamond looked rather ridiculous and he might have even chuckled at him. It was awesome, how fast this ship was. His had taken  _months_ to travel the distance, while this one took only a few hours. It was kind of sad really. Pink's ship wasn't even that new! But he guessed his ship had been quite broken. They didn't talk much really. He just sat in a corner and watched the other. What would they even discuss? He had no intention of opening old wounds on accident and hurting his boyfriend. Hopefully everything would work out in the end, so they could live a normal life in Beach City again. 

Before they knew it they landed on Homeworld at the same spot as always and left the ship. Lars had no idea, what he was even supposed to do. He simply trailed behind Steven and took in the scenery. It was rather surreal that there were gems cheering without pause below them. But the rest of the planet seemed nice enough. It was so clean and bright... it was so unlike Earth. When Steven didn't go further, but stood still, he asked "Uh... what are we going to do now?" They were standing on an elevated platform with no way to go down. What was the other waiting for? He was responded however, when White's Pearl arrived, emerging from the floor creepily. He did a shocked little squeak at that and jumped backwards a little.

"Follow me, Pink Diamond. My Diamond is awaiting you in her ship," she noted without showing any sort of emotion. 

"Wait! He is coming with me; he knows anyway," the diamond demanded.

After White Pearl did nothing for far too long, she answered "Yes, Pink Diamond." Steven was surprised that even worked. She normally seldom  _listened_ to him. Still, her behavior unsettled him. She behaved like a computer that had trouble processing things. This only made him more certain she was indeed an illusion and nothing else. Upon seeing this, Lars also became more certain there. They were both bubbled and pulled towards White's ship through the floor.

"S-Steven- what the hell is this?!" Lars insecurely asked. He had seen his faire share of Homeworld's tech, but this was new. 

"Don't worry, it's ok. And uh... by the way, don't talk in front of her. If she asks you to, which she won't, you can. I don't want you to get hurt," the diamond warned. He knew normal gems and other people should not be impolite to the diamonds. He should not either, but at least he would not be punished for it like the others. When they arrived at the ship, White still had not moved an inch. Steven stood in front of her and Lars slightly behind him. 

Before Steven could even begin saying something, she happily declared "Starchild, you returned at last! Did you have  _fun_ on your little adventures again, hm? I'm sure you did. Now, have you decided?" 

"Yes, I-" he began talking.

"Splendid!" she interrupted him.

He began frowning again and went on "-I will join you." He hoped this would be it and she would leave him alone now. She was so scary and weird! She reminded him of the Connie in his room. She had also behaved so unlike herself and inhuman.

"Very good, Starchild! Now, see to your duties then!" she exclaimed too excitedly again and let them be bubbled again. 

Lars was stunned. This must have been the weirdest conversation he had ever witnessed. "S-She sends you of just like that? But we don't even know, what your duties  _are_!" he pointed out. 

"Yeah. Do you believe me now, that this is kind of fishy? Anyway, we'll figure it out somehow. Can't be too hard!" Steven felt a little more optimistic. He was relieved, she was letting him go this easily. This ride was taking  _forever_ ; where would they even go?  He turned around to the commander and hugged him sweetly "Thanks again for coming with me. This would be ten time harder, if I was alone!" Lars also embraced him shortly and kissed his forehead at which Steven giggled. When they arrived at their destination, the diamond recognized it  _somewhat_. He had been here before. Well, not  _really._ It had been a memory from his mom. They had landed right in front of Pink Diamond's throne! A few gems were present, but they were surprisingly  _unsurprised_ at him being there. They simply faced him, bowed once and resumed their activities. 

"Hm...Uh, perhaps you should sit down there?" the commander offered, trying to help. It was the only thing, that seemed logical. The diamond shrugged and sat down on the far too tall throne. It felt right to sit there, but what would he do now? Lars also had no idea what to do and simply stood next to him. He doubted he was allowed on there, too. No one approached them or anything, and Lars asked "So... what do we do now? W-We can't just stay here like this for all eternity!" They had a plan to fulfill! 

Steven played around with buttons, that were positioned on his throne at that. "I don't know. I think I'll try to call Blue or Yellow; I know this thing has a phone build into it. I just have to find it," he proposed. It was his best bet. Some hologram popped up after a while with the diamond insignia on it. Thanks to his flashbacks he knew, what combination he had to type in. That opened up a new interface- completely written in gem. "Oh no. You don't know any gem-language by chance, do you?" Steven asked.

"You don't know  _anything_?! B-But you were raised by gems!" the zombie wanted to know. 

"S-Sorry. They  _tried_ to teach me, but I'm not good at that kind of stuff. I guess I'll just press anything- it worked before!" he felt a little stupid. Pearl had really given her best, but he couldn't even discern a single letter! He had never thought, he would need this. And really, she had tried to teach him that, when he was  _five months old_. Pearl had never really understood humans needed to develop after coming into existence. Gems were more or less done after emerging after all.

Lars turned the panel towards him. "Let me see- I might be able to do  _something_. My crew tought me this a little; I couldn't have flown the ship without it!" he told his boyfriend and swiped across the hologram. He knew a few of the words, but not many. Still, he managed to find something titled 'Direct Diamond Line' and clicked onto it. "I think that should be it," he noted. When another insignia was displayed, the diamond tapped onto the Blue one. She liked him most after all. 

After a short while, Blue Pearl appeared and said "This is the Direct Diamond Line, what is your request?"

"Uhh, I want to talk to Blue Diamond,  _please_?" the hybrid half asked in insecurity. Blue Pearl then looked up at him, pushing her hair to the side. She apparently knew who he was and got Blue to answer the call.

She looked rather perplexed "Pink? What are you doing here? I thought you were back on Earth again!" 

"I-It's complicated. White made me join the Diamond Authority- I thought you would know! Uh, c-could you come and help me? She just dropped me off and told me to 'do my duty', but I don't even know, what that is. I'm kind of lost...," Steven whined to her. 

She blinked a few times, processing what he said. "Of course I can help! But shouldn't you have a Pearl? She should be the one to do this" she cocked her head. 

"Thank you! A-And no, i don't. Well my mom's Pearl is on Earth, but I don't want to force her to come here. I feel really bad about owning a Pearl, to be honest. Also, White never mentioned anything about asking her or needing one," he pointed out. 

"I see... Well then come to my court and I'll teach you! You know how to get here, right?" Blue Diamond asked hopefully. He must at least know  _something_.

He admitted "Not really."

"Oh dear. As a diamond, you can warp from any building! You just have to touch the floor. It's more or less one giant warp-pad," she explained to him. It kind of made sense, as Steven had seen them do this before. He thanked her and they ended the call. Afterwards he jumped down his throne and took Lars' hand.

"You didn't warp before, right? Don't worry, it doesn't hurt at all. It's just a little tingly and stuff. Uh, just hold my hand tight and this should work," he explained to the other, who looked rather concerned. He had been scared the first time as well, so he did not blame him. Once they arrived at Blue Diamond's court, Steven immediately felt better. Blue was probably his biggest ally on Homeworld besides Lars. She currently sat on her throne and smiled at him- her sadness was long gone. While the hybrid approached, the zombie stayed behind a little. "Sorry for bothering you, but I really need to talk to you," the younger boy smiled. Meanwhile, Blue Pearl looked rather disapprovingly at Lars- he hadn't done the bow!

"It's quite alright, I'm happy to have you here. So what did White tell you? What even made you join us?" she started off. 

"She threatened to start the war again or shatter me, if I didn't do it. Obviously I had no choice, but to join... A-And when I agreed, she told me to return to my duties. I couldn't even ask her anything; she just made me go away!" Pink declared. How could Blue not know of anything? She was a fellow diamond- didn't they inform each other?

She rubbed her chin a little and asked "Well that's a little harsh, but she has always been like that. She is very  _unforgiving_ at times, you see? Still it would have been nice to have been informed of it. Not that I am badmouthing her, but Yellow and I are diamonds as well! Has she said anything else?"

"No...I couldn't even ask her, when we would cure corruption! Is it normal for her to not move at all and not listening too? You said she was different, but still... She behaves so weird and her Pearl as well!" the smaller diamond wanted to know the truth! 

She sighed a little "She has not always been like this, no. It started shortly before you left us and joined the rebels. Don't think me and Yellow haven't noticed that! It's just... she won't tell us what's going on and we can't force her to. She has a higher rank than us! You don't remember it, but she is extremely powerful... She could crush  _even us_ with her bare hands!" Of course they knew, something was up. They weren't  _that_ oblivious. 

Lars whispered, despite having been told not to "...You are scared of her." Steven turned around and shushed him- he would only get them in trouble.

Blue Diamond laughed bitterly "Who wouldn't be? Perhaps you don't understand, little human. White  _created_ us with her own hands; formed our gems and placed them inside planets, so we could develop. She can just as easily destroy us again and make a new diamond! She  **cannot** be defeated. When we were still young, we often trained fighting with her.  **Never** in all her existence has she been poofed! Yellow and me hurt her countless times with swords and the like! Any other gem would have lost it's form- she poofed us often enough! I would even go as far, as to call her completely  _immortal_."

The commander ignored his boyfriend. He was here to help and not to stand around! "If she is this perfect, why then does she behave this weirdly? Why doesn't she leave Homeworld anymore? I've seen her- she's behaving like some kind of pre-recorded hologram! Her Pearl could even hardly process, that I was present as well and Pink Diamond requested something from her! A-And why would she just put him in his court? She should have known, he had no idea what to do! I-I mean, you understood! Why couldn't she?" he threw at her.

A little offended, she demanded to know "What is this about? That doesn't make her physically weaker!" This was right and all, but it didn't help.

Steven added "We-  _the Crystal Gems_ have a suspicion. On Earth in our base, we all have special rooms. My room can make anything appear out of thin air. It can create almost  _perfect_ copies of other people for example! They behave a little weird and don't move really, though. What we are suggesting is, that White as we know her is only such an illusion as well! Trust me, she and her Pearl behave  _exactly_ like that. A-And it would make sense! Mom was pretty close with her; she must have learned from White how to make this sort of room. That explains, why we have such a thing back home! The real White Diamond and her Pearl could be anywhere- or even dead!" He kind of felt like Ronaldo there. This sounded rather crazy, but it was logical! 

"I..." she stammered. "I have to talk with Yellow about this. Who told you, she was close to White? We didn't know..." Blue managed to get out. All these new revelations made her head spin!

"Pearl told me! Uh...  _my Pearl_ , I guess. She said, Pink often visited White alone. Pearl wasn't allowed to accompany her! And also, White had this really weird nickname _for me,_ " he explained. How much more secrets could there possibly be? This would all be easier, if he had his mom's memories.

Blue also shook her head "This is all so  _surreal_. W-We thought White  _hated_  you, because you two were so different from each other. It seems you weren't the only one to hide something. I... I'll talk to Yellow and inform you later. We'll have to talk in person though; White might listen in on our calls. Anything is possible now! And until then, I'll lend you my Pearl. She can show you, what you have to do."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love this gets. I was so unhappy with this fic >.< I even had thoughts of just deleting it, because I was so frustrated


	10. Black coal and diamonds

Steven felt weirdly  _mighty_ right now. He was sitting on his gigantic throne, Lars to his left and Blue Pearl to his right. Some gems came in and gave him reports or asked for resources. He had no idea, what that was about, but it felt nice to be important like that. Blue Pearl often explained the stuff to him and Lars and then gave advice on how to proceed. The diamond trusted her she wasn't lying to him. Hours upon hours passed by and Steven became increasingly tired. He asked the Pearl "When do we make a break?"

"B-Break?" she asked him.

"I can't work forever! I need food and sleep!" he pointed out. Well food wasn't that big of a problem anymore, but he was almost nodding of right now. No way he could go on much longer.

"Oh... the diamond's don't really do that... But I understand, you have no choice- Humans need that to survive, yes? Hm. But we don't have a place for sleeping and probably no food either! What do you require for that?" she asked innocently. She wanted to give her best to make him happy, but she didn't know how.

He explained "I need a bed, a bathroom and food from Earth. Can't we send someone to Earth to get that? We must have enough money to do that, right?"

"Money...?" she cocked her head.

Lars intervened "The stuff you pay people with?"

"We don't pay anyone... But we could just take those resources! Earth is yours, Pink Diamond. The humans owe you all that," Blue Pearl helpfully advised. 

Steven shook his head "No, I don't want you to steal from them and they don't owe me anything. Perhaps we have other stuff, that we could trade with them?"

"Hm, surely. We have lots of junk other species find useful. Tell me, what resources are considered valuable by humans?" she asked. 

Lars listed a few items "...Metal sometimes; especially gold or copper. And uh,  _gems_. Not the living kind though. Diamonds for example are ridiculously expensive. Do you even have unliving gemstones here?"

Weren't her hair in front of her eyes, anyone could have seen them widen in shock "Dead G-Gems? W-What are they even doing with them?" What kind of monstrosities were humans? Did they shatter their kind and reuse their corpses?

The diamond shook his head "No, not  _dead_ ones. Just gemstones, that never lived in the first place.  _Just_ pretty  _stones_. They put them in jewellery most of the time. Humans don't kill real gems, so they can use them for that."

"O-Oh. That sounds still scary. Homeworld still values unliving gemstones highly and we generally leave the poor things alone. We don't have gems like that here we could use, it is simply immoral. But we have gold! We can give them that," she said a little relieved. It would have been very horrible, if those humans killed their kind and decorated themselves with their  _corpses_. The other thing was horrible, too though. Those gems couldn't even fight for themselves! "I'll send someone to trade with the humans. It might take a little time though. Could you wait two hours or so?" she went on to say and they nodded. 

~~~~

Steven really wondered, why Blue and Yellow had to discuss this for so long. But he guessed, they wanted to be really sure. He was currently inspecting his freshly done room. How they managed to build everything this fast and without problem, he did not know. He hoped, they had not scared the humans too much. Lars however asked "Isn't the bed a little  _big_?" It was gigantic! He didn't even know, they produced such big beds back home. And of course, it was pink! 

"Maybe? They just wanted to give me the best thing possible. I mean, have you seen the bathroom? The bathtub can hardly be called one! I-It's a small pool! It's kind of neat, though..." the diamond admitted shamefully. Perhaps he could dig this lifestyle. He yawned again; they had just eaten a meal fit for a king, which made him even more tired. There had been things, he had only ever seen on TV. Lobsters, caviar, five different types of meat and salad... far too much. He had scolded the gems for that too. He could hardly eat everything and so they would just waste the food. They had bowed and promised to do better next time. "Now we really should sleep. I feel like I'm going to pass out soon..." the diamond murmured. 

"Yeah, me too," Lars agreed. He was so happy to have the other close- he could finally fall asleep again! They both undressed and lay down. The mattress was pure  _heaven_ and both of them visibly relaxed. The commander needed more though and turned to his side, so he could hug Steven's waist. Were he a cat, he would purr now. "Aren't the gems here wondering, why I am here?" he wondered. 

"Hm, they  _should_. But perhaps they think, you'll leave sooner or later. And we haven't really kissed or anything out in the open, so no one knows, how close we are either," the other pondered.

Lars became a little worried "I-Is that even  _allowed_? Am I allowed to be your boyfriend? Perhaps it's forbidden. I mean, cross-fusion is!"

"I don't know. I don't think, that most gems even have a partner here. But either way, they can't take you away from me! I am a diamond!" the hybrid said a little offended. They could try, but he was the king here! If he wanted to have Lars, he would. The zombie chuckled a little at the other's possessive behavior. He had thought of himself as the more dominant role in their relationship, but perhaps he had forgotten Steven's gem. Diamonds just were dominant and such. Still, he wouldn't let Steven go through with it!

~~~~

The next morning, a human-sized and lithe gem appeared in their room. It was some kind of messenger, it seemed. It declared "Blue and Yellow Diamond request a meeting! They await you in the conference room on Homeworld's moon, please go there soon- it's important and time is short." Then it bowed and left. 

"Why on the moon?" Lars asked sleepily, but Steven shrugged. They quickly dressed and made themselves presentable, before warping of. The moon was rather boring. It much resembled Earth's, but there were more buildings on it. They warped directly into the conference room. There was only one gigantic table made of glass in a diamond shape and three thrones around it in blue, yellow and pink. He sat down on his, while Lars leaned against it.

Yellow immediately asked "Who is that? Is he trustworthy?"

Steven blinked "That's Lars and yes, he is."

Blue added "Ah, so that's his name, but who is he? Pink, what we will discuss  _has_ to stay confidential or we might all be shattered. We'd much rather not have him here...and why should he be?" This was the riskiest thing they had ever done and they couldn't make it  _even riskier_!

Trying to get his point across, he gripped at Lars' shoulder and said "He won't tell and he will stay here. Also,  _you_ have your Pearls with you; it's only fair, that I'm not alone! Lars is... he is my boyfriend- I love him, ok?" Did they even know, what that was?

"Some kind of mate? Well, fair enough. Do be careful though," Blue warned. That little human was rather brave and also a little foolish in her opinion. After all, he had talked back to her.

Yellow diamond was already annoyed, which was only worsened by her mild anxiety. She sighed "Can we go on now? I don't want White to find us." The others nodded. "Good. Now Pink, we have thought about your observation and yes, something is most definitely off. Your idea makes sense. I've seen such a room you described before, although it was a prototype back then. White told me, it was designed for  _you_ , so you could train leading a colony. But the room never could pull that off. It couldn't project Earth in it's entirety and realistically, so White abandoned the project and we just gave you Earth for real. But perhaps she never  _did_ abandon it..." she helpfully told them.

Pink said "Yeah, that makes sense. The room I have on Earth can't even simulate all of Beach City; no wonder, it did not work. My idea is, that White has installed such rooms in a few places like her ship or court. That would be rather easy to handle for it, I guess. It only has to simulate her and her Pearl, maybe a few other gems- it should work. This is why she never leaves Homeworld anymore. I have a question though. When you did the corruption beam, from where did you do it?" They answered it had been done out of White's ship, which they flew relatively close to Earth. "Then I also know, why you did not destroy Earth with it. It would have, if the real White had participated. But in the end, it was only an illusion and only you two did it." he exclaimed.

Blue played with her hair unsurely and asked "It makes sense, but why? Why would she do it and where is the real White? A-And what do you, or rather your 'mom' have to do with it? She had the knowledge on how to make such a room and White conveniently changed, before Pink left...This can't be coincidence. C-Can't you somehow access he memories?" 

He shook his head in despair "It only happens by accident, when I sleep. I-I can't control it! But the Sapphire back on Earth is currently going through her visions to find the real White Diamond, she will surely come up with something! Perhaps the other Sapphires could help as well?"

"No. We would have to fill them in first and we simply can't risk it. They wouldn't have different solutions anyway. Also, she will only see  _possibilities_... We can't try  _everything_! There must be another way," Blue responded. She loved her Sapphires, but they weren't  _that_  overpowered. 

"I have an idea!" Lars declared and the two diamonds glared at him. However, Yellow still motioned for him to speak. "A friend of mine is an off-colored Sapphire. She can't foretell the future, but she can always foretell the present. That might seem useless, but it isn't. What she foretells is always an objective truth! I pressed the wrong buttons in my space-ship for example and she knew right away. She might be able to tell us, what is going on with White!" he proudly, but a little scaredly told them. He really hoped it had not been a mistake to reveal his friend.

Blue knew, who he was talking about. "Padparadscha still lives? Surprising. We could  _try_...," she turned towards Yellow.

She gritted her teeth. Getting help from an off-color was unacceptable! But it might be their only chance... "F-Fine- Get that gem here. Perhaps she really does proof her worth," she reluctantly agreed.

However, Lars wanted to be promised something first "Do you promise us, that you won't hurt her?" They nodded slowly. "Steven, give me your ship and I can get her. I think it's safer for you, if you stay here with them. Who knows, if White is already onto us? But the three of you should be able to fight her, if it comes to that," he told him. 

Despite his sisters being shocked, the diamond replied "Yes, do so. But please be careful, ok?" He trusted Lars, that he was able to fly the pair of legs. Yellow found it horrendous, how that human addressed and spoke to the other diamond. He would need to be tought a lesson or two, if he wanted to stay here!

"Of course I will,  _my diamond._ Aren't I always?" Lars winked and giggled sweetly. Steven only snorted, leaned down and kissed the other happily. He was sure, he would be successful. 

Blue laughed though "And how do you plan of getting to the ship? You can't warp like this! Only people the system recognizes can warp from anywhere on Homeworld, which is normally only us diamonds and perhaps a few other, special gems. Let me change that real quick-" With that, she opened a hologram and typed in something. She really began to like that little human. Just as stubborn and impatient as Pink! When she had finished that, Lars warped away. It wasn't as hard as it looked, really. 

~~~~

After some hours of boredom, Lars returned and pulled a happy Padparadscha behind him. "Did everything go by okay?" Steven quickly asked. They were still seated in the same room.

"Yeah, they were all a little shocked to see me this soon again though. Garnet has not come up with anything yet, by the way. It was really scary- she just sat on the couch and didn't move, but she looked very stressed out. Pearl said, she was like that, because she really wants to be useful again. I don't know; I just hugged her and told her, she could stop and it wasn't her fault. I don't think, she's convinced, though. Anyway, we're here now and Pad has  _lots_ of nice things to say!" he exclaimed. Garnet had been stressing out about her future vision for some time now. After all, she could hardly predict anything anymore. Yellow Diamond extended her hand and then put Padparadscha on top of the table, so they could see her better.

"So, what do you know?" Blue asked. She was rather interested now in that curious gem. Perhaps she should not have thrown her out that fast.

"I've had the most marvelous vision, my diamond!" she happily beamed. She was so excited to finally be of purpose! "The White Diamond here on Homeworld is not White Diamond! Ah! She is, but an illusion!" she gasped in surprise. Another revelation came "But there is more to come! The real one- I can see her clearly! A planet with two suns and a surface black like coal...But- what is this- she...  _Oh no_. It appears, she has been severely hurt!" 

"W-What?!" Blue gasped and began crying, making everyone else do so as well- even Lars. Pad couldn't go on like that!

Yellow sighed and shouted at her sister "Blue, would you stop? She clearly has more to say!" Blue looked up and wiped her tears away, making everyone relieved again.

Padparadscha continued "There is even more I see! Her gemstone is in a cave, deep inside the planet... I-It is cracked- I can't-" She stammered. This was too horrible. White was their supreme, unfailing leader! She felt frightened, what could have done this?

The zombie climbed up the table quickly and embraced her "Pad, it's okay! Don't freeze up on me again! You aren't really there, you are here with us and safe, right?" They had had this happen a few times before. It wasn't always good to know the ultimate truth at all times. She nodded and he let her go again, but did not go away. Steven felt very proud of him.

"I...I don't understand this. Her Pearl is next to her and perfectly fine, but doesn't help her! S-She sits next to her broken gem and keeps it bubbled...I don't understand. O-Oh..." she began sobbing. "T-The gem isn't cracked. I-It is shattered... It only appears intact inside the bubble, she can't do a-anything. This- this is a  _grave_!" she broke down finally. "Please, don't make me see more- I can't! It's too much, please no more!" she went on in an endless circle. Lars quickly grasped for her, sat down and hugged her. He whispered something to her softly, comforting her.

No one in the room felt better though. While Blue made them cry again, Yellow brought out "H-How? She was immortal! She shouldn't be- Who could have done this? I don't..." She felt devastated. The diamonds oftentimes felt indestructible, but this was undeniable proof against it. She had only felt this pain once before, when they had thought to have lost Pink. After what felt like hours, she calmed down enough to say "I know which planet that is... I-It is the planet furthest away from Homeworld we ever attempted to colonize. It never worked though. It's surface consists of coal, but the deeper one goes, it is made of- of pure  _diamond_. Even though it doesn't live, we never dared to touch it. We always felt uncomfortable being there. No wonder she chose that place. No one would ever go there! W-We have to go there! I- We have to know, what happened."   

 


	11. Graveyard

The ride to that planet was hell. No one could really handle it. The diamonds were so overwhelmed, that Lars had to fly Steven's ship. He could understand, though. They had just been told, their sister and creator had been dead for thousands of years. Without her, there would be no more diamonds, he guessed. White was the only one, who could make them, he had been told. The flight took a whole day, as the planet was so far away. When they neared it though, the zombie was in awe. It almost looked like a black hole with it's surface made of coal. He flew around it for a while, searching for some landmarks, Pad had managed to describe later. They had send her home afterwards, though. There it was- a rather tall mountain and a kind of lake next to it. It wasn't water though, he was sure. It was  _purple_. He landed near it somewhere and they reluctantly got out.

"I hate this place," Yellow murmured. They were walking on a gigantic diamond! And even though the planet was half the size of Earth's moon, it was still scary to think about. They let a few drones fly around, so they didn't have to search themselves for the cave. Meanwhile, Lars held Steven's hand tight.

"Is everything alright?" he asked to no avail. The other shook his head, so he embraced the diamond, whispering sweet nothings. "Don't worry, everything will turn out fine," he assured him, but really doubted it himself. After some time, a drone appeared and led them to the cave and through it. It must have been pretty deep, as they walked forever. At some point, the walls began shining, as the diamond was showing through more and more. It was such a frightening place! Soon enough, they reached a bigger room, where a diamond could stand easily. On some kind of altar made of coal, rested a white bubble with the gem inside. It really did look okay on first inspection, but the more one looked, the more cracks it had. Before it knelt a familiar Pearl, however she didn't behave as weird as the illusion. Her spear lay next to her. Had she really sat there like that for thousands of years?

Yellow woke her from her stasis "White Pearl! Face us and explain this to us! It's an order!" She visibly was startled, not having heard a noise in thousands of years. She slowly turned around and stood up, letting her spear rest on the floor. To Steven's surprise, her eye was damaged as well and her gem cracked severely. One more blow and she was dead. 

"Yes, Yellow Diamond," she said too calmly. It was, as if she was hollow- there wasn't a single emotion to be seen and her one eye stared blankly into nothingness. Even when Blue began crying again, nothing happened.  "White Diamond is dead. She ordered me to do it. I shattered her and brought her here, as was her last order to me. I tried to resist, as my main use is to protect her; even from herself. She hurt me. Again and again. So I followed through," she stated. 

While sobbing, Blue cried "Why would she ever do that? Why?" White had been perfect! She would never do this...

"She hated herself and could not go on. She was always sad, that everyone was scared of her, but that was not the main reason. It got worse, when she formed Pink Diamond and she didn't turn out as planned-" she elaborated.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with her-  _me_?" Steven asked. What should have been different?

White Pearls was quick to answer "You are an off-color. You should have been red, you should have been taller and you should have been stronger. She put the blame on herself for it. When she first saw you, she wanted to shatter you right away and start anew. However, Blue and Yellow Diamond loved you and were so grateful you were there. So she didn't."

Steven's eyes got wide- he was an off-color? He took a step back; what if the others would hate him now? However, Blue put a hand on his back and whispered "No Pink, don't be scared. I couldn't care less about you having the wrong color. Not after your little friend showed me, you aren't defective at all-  _just different_. I think I like different just fine!" She smiled at him, but still cried. How much worse could this get?

Yellow nodded and White Pearl proceeded "White and Pink got close as well.  _Closer than acceptable_. They told each other everything, nothing was hidden. No, not even Pink's second identity- you hopefully know of it. White had always thought, it was a silly game of her's- nothing to worry about. She thought she knew Pink, she thought she loved her. They had even fused a few times and exchanged their Pearls as a symbol of trust. She was  _wrong_. When Pink fell in love with another, some bearded human from Earth, it broke her heart for the first time. When Pink Diamond even demanded though, that organic life should be saved and she'd betray us for that, it broke again. After that, it broke even more often. When you two demanded to obliterate Earth however, she just couldn't. She still could not deal with killing Pink. So she let you travel with an illusion, so it would not hurt. When she saw however, that all gems on Earth had been corrupted, it killed her. She was certain, Pink had fallen as well. But as I see now, she has not... She installed more illusions on Homeworld of us, so she could isolate herself. It soon wasn't enough for her though and she ended it."

It was dead silent after that. Until Steven began crying on his own accord "This is all my fault- all of this! A-All those dead and corrupted gems... I-." He couldn't deal with it anymore. He had rid Homeworld of it's leader, killed lots of gems himself probably and doomed any of them, that had been on Earth. If anyone was it, he was the villain of this story. Not the hero...

"No Steven! You are  **not** your mom! Whatever she did is not your fault. You've done everything you could do make up for her mistakes, no one blames you! Please, don't do this to yourself!" Lars pleaded. The young diamond only shook his head in denial.

"But I am her! I have her gem and powers! What makes me my own person, huh?" he broke down. "J-Just look at White Pearl- that is my fault! How can you say, I'm a good person?" he demanded to be told.

Blue and Yellow had to intervene, they knew. They had not managed to help White, but they would not loose Pink as well. Blue stroked the top of the boy's hair " _Steven_. You aren't her. If even we can say that, how come you don't? You have nothing to do with it. The human is right, you only ever tried to make up for her mistakes. Don't worry. If at all, we should  _thank you_ for everything you did. You're so small, but you managed to unveil so much! You probably improved the lives of countless gems and humans just now!"

Yellow Diamond added helpfully "Yes. No one has to fear White Diamond ever again! Off-Colors might still be redeemed and you saved your precious little Earth!  Pink- no,  _Steven_ , everyone loves you and we are also very proud of you." She normally never got this nice, but Pink was special. She had always been small and weak, which made Yellow want to protect her. If that entailed doing this, so be it. 

"Y-You really think that?" Steven whimpered and they all assured him of their honesty. "T-Thank you..." he told them. He had probably been all too overwhelmed by this situation. He looked at White Pearl, who had been his, way back in the past. He asked her "Do you want me to heal you?" He could still save her perhaps! 

"No, that won't be necessary, my diamond. You already have a Pearl, so I'd be useless anyway," she told him.

He stood up and walked to her with new-found confidence "No, you aren't useless. You could serve me or be free, if you wanted to!"

She seemed to contemplate it a little and finally told him "I don't think, you even can heal the damage done. I... I'll stay with White. Someone has to keep her safe."

He wanted to resist, but Lars pulled at him and shook his head. Steven was good at healing physical, but not psychological damage. If it were that way, White would not have done this. The diamond accepted his defeat and let himself be pulled towards the exit. This reminded him far too much of Lapis. She never recovered fully either. 

~~A few days later~~

They lay on the diamond's bed again, Steven safely embraced by his boyfriend. He needed this, even if it was selfish. Lars had his head resting on top of his head, while he pressed his into the other's chest. He sniffled a little and played with the hem of Lars' coat. He was rather troubled by what was to come. Blue and Yellow managed to destroy the illusion room, but now they had to inform the public. It would be horrible. The other gems would react like Padparadscha probably, but they did not have a Lars to comfort them. However, there would also be good news for them... "Do you think, I made the right decision?" he asked.

"Hm?" the zombie awoke from his little slumber "Yeah, I think so. Homeworld would be lost otherwise and we don't want an insecure intergalactic superpower running around without direction. Everything else would have been irresponsible."

"But... A-Are you really okay with staying at my side like  _that_?" the diamond whimpered. He felt so unsure of himself. Once it was done, it could not be reversed.

The zombie's whole chest rumbled, when he chuckled "Yes, stop worrying. Who else would do it?  _Pearl_? O-Or White Pearl? I don't want you to stay here alone with some kind of psycho at your side! I'd much rather do it myself,  _my diamond_ ~" Sure, taking on the role of Pink's Pearl was a little humiliating, but he would live. What else would he do? He could hardly go home and leave Steven here. 

"They aren't  _psychos_... But I would much rather be here with you as well. I just wanted to make sure, that you really want this," he said. He earned himself a passionate kiss with that, making him shut up. Steven really wished, they would advance already- whatever that entailed. But Lars was stubborn. The most he was allowed was to let his hand slide beneath the commander's shirt and touch him a little. Nothing more.

Lars regarded one of the clocks on their wall. They had multiple like an airport would, so there would be no confusion. Homeworld had 33 hour days and it could get really confusing, when they tried to communicate with Beach City because of that. "Steven, our guests will come soon. Perhaps we should stand up?" he pointed out. The diamond let go of him and looked himself, they had like ten minuted left, so he agreed. Before they would speak to the public, they needed to speak to their families.

~~~~

Steven had decided they would meet the others in a lounge of his. It might seem a little weird, if he sat in his throne and everyone had to stand. What he had not taken into account though, was that more people came than previously agreed. There were the CG's, their parents and Connie! His elite guards also looked a little perplexed at the mass of humans and gems. After Lars and Steven had hugged everyone, the diamond asked their parents "Why did you not say, the others would come as well?"

Martha beamed "It's a surprise! Aren't you two happy?" They reluctantly agreed and sat down. This would only make things harder. Lars and his boyfriend sat opposite from the others on a couch and the zombie had his arm draped over the other's waist. "So, is everything here going alright? It must be; you would not have invited us over otherwise, I guess! I'm so happy for you" she excitedly said. This alien world was so great! It was almost like a dream...

Coughing awkwardly, the diamond began telling their story "I-It's more or less good. As we already thought, White was not really there and the others supported me. There were a few  _complications_ though. It turns out, White Diamond made White Pearl kill her. A-And the reason for that was my own mom... Pearl, you said they were close. Turns out, White was somewhat in love with mom and went crazy over her not returning her feelings. A-Also, she knew  _everything_. She knew mom was Rose Quartz! T-That's why she let the beam fail intentionally. She had not anticipated the corruption though and that gave her the rest- she thought, mom was corrupted as well. I know, this is all a bit much...sorry."

Pearl gasped "She really knew? Oh stars, why would she have told her?! We could have been killed...A-And Pink really led her on l-like..."  _her_.  She couldn't say it. Pink had betrayed them over and over again, it seemed! 

Steven slowly nodded "Yes. I am sorry for what she did, but we can't change it. She isn't here anymore. But there is even more. White had other reasons as well. One being, that I am an off-color. I was never supposed to be Pink."

Amethyst stated "To be honest, that was totally obvious. I mean, why wouldn't you be? You're super small and not a primary color. Either way, then you just fit in with us even more!" Steven kind of agreed. They should have known and he was grateful for still being part of the team. "But uh... should you say this right now? I mean, there are other gems here..." she worried a little. There were six guards present.

"Oh they...Nah, they are loyal to me, they wouldn't say anything to anyone, right?" he looked at them. 

All bowed at the same time, shouting "YES, MY DIAMOND!" Their three parents visibly had an heart-attack at that and looked at Steven funnily.

"See? Also, it isn't really  _that_ secret. Tomorrow everyone will now," he shyly added.

"Son, they aren't publicly shaming you after all you did, are they?" Greg asked in denial. How could they! His little rockstar was perfect the way he was.

The couple snorted in unison and the diamond explained "No, they would never do that. This is the reason we invited you; to tell you what will happen tomorrow. You can probably guess, that Homeworld can't loose one half of it's leaders and go on just like that. It was my plan to return home after this, but... things changed. Lars and me will stay here. I will take on my role as a diamond and Lars will support me by filling the role of my Pearl. This will be made public in a big ceremony tomorrow, as well as White's passing. I'm sorry I have to do this, but it is for the greater good."

Everyone wanted to say something and interrupted each other, so Steven chose people to talk like in second grade. Pearl was allowed to do so first "W-Why  _him_? I am your Pearl by all means- he doesn't even know, what to do! He doesn't have any idea of the politics at play or how to lead a colony. This is extremely irresponsible! Let me do it- he can still stay here!" 

He felt sad for her, but denied her demand "No Pearl, you served your time. I want you to be  _free_. And I don't think you knew all the politics and rules right from the beginning, either. Also, Blue lends me her Pearl occasionally as well, so it's alright. She can teach Lars. And the colonies aren't a problem. What is there to manage? Do you  _want me_ to colonize Earth? And my new colonies from White are so advanced, that they can organize themselves. Pearl... you only want to do this for Pink- but I am not her! You have to live your own life at some point, too!" Her lips were quivering and tears threatened to form, but she agreed. She had to accept it at one point or another, she might as well now. If Steven said no, it stayed a no. And he could still order her as well, if she tried to disobey this.

Connie came next "Steven, you can't just do this! You are the leader of the Crystal Gems! Earth is your home- not this! You can't leave us behind like that... Leave behind _me_!"

"Connie, Homeworld is more important right now. Blue and Yellow can't do this alone! It's safer, if I help. Then I can at least try to change something for the gems. You know how emotional the two can get; they need someone to balance them out. And sorry to say so, but the Crystal Gems don't have much of a job anymore. Homeworld is at peace with Earth- _we_ aren't a threat! And they don't need my help to capture corrupted gems. Connie you are still my best friend, but I have to make sacrifices. I loved our adventures as well, but everything has to end. I mean, you can still visit me here as well! You are all welcome to do so- just not too often. I'm quite busy probably," the little diamond tried to convince her, but she still got angry and stomped off. "Please bring her home," he told one of the guards and she complied. 

The others had wanted to say the same, so only the Barrigas were left. Dante asked "W-What is a Pearl? It's a gem, I know, but what does it mean?"

"Oh... Pearls are the lowest ranked gems on Homeworld. They aren't free, as they are owned by other gems, whom they have to obey. A Diamond's Pearl usually is a sort of adviser and secretary, but they also protect us. They tend to our needs and try to make us happy, whatever is required for that. I know this sounds rather bad, but don't worry. Nothing much will change. Lars  _already_ makes me happy and stuff, so he only gets a new job," the hybrid explained neutrally. He had not proposed this to degrade Lars or anything, it had only been a logical choice. Pearls and Diamonds were usually rather close and he had no intention of getting that close to someone else. 

Martha turned towards her son. "Are you sure about this, honey? That sound like quite the handful of work there! And you might even get hurt!" she inquired.

"Yeah, it's fine. It's not  _that_ much honestly; I'll mainly have to look pretty. And it's not like we won't go on holiday! This isn't a thing here, but we'll make it one. Then we can also visit you!" he comforted her. It really wasn't that bad.

 


	12. Holidays

"Mom?" Lars asked over a communicator, they had been given. They had been sitting in their garden, when the device had suddenly sprung to life.

"Hey sweetie! I haven't seen you in weeks- It's so nice, that you remembered my birthday!" she giggled. That surely was the reason, he called.

Mother's birthday? "Yeah...congratulations, haha! Uh, anyway! I have a little favor to ask a-and I kind of have to be quick about it-" he went on.

"Anything for you!" Martha grinned.

He sighed and shifted a little, revealing an empty, pink throne next to him. "C-Can I visit you for a few days with Ste- _my diamond_? I  _really_ need a vacation right now. You won't believe the things going on here right now. I-It's as if everyone has gone bat-shit crazy," he rolled his eyes and looked around, observing the room it seemed.

She frowned a little "Of course you can come! But what's wrong, honey?" Lars and Steven had been on Homeworld for over a year now and never has he looked this stressed. His hair was all ruffled and unruly and he nervously looked around every few seconds. The zombie had always been extremely proud of his work and what they had achieved. Pink Diamond and he had been fully accepted, off-colors redeemed and even cross-fusion was on it's way to legalization. Corruption could not be cured though, which everyone found disappointing. So what could upset him so?

He suddenly tensed up more "-Tell you later, no time. A-And uh, please get Greg to visit as well! Bye!" And with that the call ended. Dante looked also rather puzzled at his wife.

He asked "You don't understand this either, do you? He was so happy last month, when we visited the two!" It had been Steven's 16. birthday and the party had been awesome! All the festivities there were! 

She could only shrug "Yeah, it kind of worries me. What could make him this nervous? I don't remember them telling us anything about big events or troubles last time..." Really, everything had been going well. They would have to wait and see. In the meantime, she would prepare Lars' old room and go grocery shopping. They had left the room like it had been more or less, but Laramie had also taken some stuff back to Homeworld. Other stuff had been give away though. Lars would turn 19 very soon, so there was lots of stuff, he didn't want anymore. Really, he had just been 17, when he had been kidnapped and since then, he had hardly spend time here. 

~~Two days later~~

They really wished they knew, when they would come. The wait made them sick. Two mornings after the call, it finally happened. Someone rang their bell! Dante and Martha  _stormed_ towards the door, although they would never admit that. They opened it hastily and outside stood an whole entourage of gems. 

"Hi..." Laramie greeted them. He wasn't wearing his normal outfit anymore. He had traded it in long ago for a pink coat, white trousers and shirt long ago. On his left side was standing Steven, who had grown quite a bit and lost some weight, but still didn't reach Lars' hight. He also wore mainly pink. Both of them looked rather exhausted and ready to get a burnout. Then there were also four pink guards of varying sizes and someone completely unexpected. A little girl, perhaps six years-old. She looked very adorable- her long and curly hair was a mixture of white and a very light pink, while her skin was also very milky, almost white. She wore a cute, playful and colorful dress. Martha had almost thought, she was human, but it could not be. She had a white gem at her forehead and diamond-shaped pupils like Steven and the other diamonds.

"Hey Laramie- who is that little cutie down there?" his mom asked.

The couple exhaustedly laughed, and Steven answered "We'll tell you, but we should all sit down for that perhaps... It's a looong story!"

Everyone went inside and the couple sat down in the living room with the 'child'. Meanwhile, Martha and Dante fetched some sweets and cake for their guest and the guards secured the house. Greg came downstairs; he had camped in their guest room. He was so happy to see the two-  _three_?  When everyone had finished, Greg asked again "So, who is that?" Steven was heavily leaning against Lars, while the girl simply sat straight and smiled at the Barrigas and Universe. 

Lars rubbed over his face, trying to get a little more awake "The source of all our misery" he snorted, but Steven punshed him and his mom also slapped him on the knee. "It's ok,it was  _a joke_. But really, she uh keeps us up at night," he added to his defense and the girl even giggled.

The diamond explained "Yeah, she really does. T-Turns out, we are her parents now."

"WHAT" Dante and Martha shouted. The husband went on "H-How?! I-I thought, this would kill Steven-" Greg almost fainted.

The younger boy laughed "At least the way my mom did it, yes. And we aren't her  _biological_ parents, don't worry. This will be very difficult, so please listen well. We knew, that White Diamond could create gems with her bare hands and was the only one, who could make diamonds. When she died, that was a real problem. Homeworld's empire is just too big for three people and as sad as it is, more of us could die some day. So...we searched for ways to make a new White Diamond. Turns out, I was the solution all along! I can  _obviously_ create life, but I never guessed it worked like this. I tried it with a few unliving Rubies at first and soon pulled it off. Then we three decided to get a new sister..."

~~Almost two months ago~~

"Do you really think we should do this, my diamond? What if something goes wrong- we can't shatter her!" Lars whispered to him. 

Steven was amazed at his lack of faith "Of course! The Rubies came out fine!" 

"Yeah,  _Rubies_. But not Diamonds! Also, they were even more childish than usual!" he said silently, but intently. Why couldn't they just wait or leave it be altogether? The Rubies had been totally  _off_. For a few days, they had been half the size of a normal Ruby and then they  _grew_. It wasn't shapeshifting, but real growth. A diamond would surely do the same, but perhaps longer- they were so tall, after all.

"Hey! Happy birthday, Steven!" Connie came over to them. She had calmed down long ago and accepted Steven's choice. She herself had started focusing on school again instead of helping the CG's out. She hugged the two, who were standing in a corner of the room, where the party was at. With that, their conversation stopped for now.

It only commenced, once they were in their private rooms again. " _I_ am against it!" Lars shouted.

" _Why_? There is no reason to- it will make everything easier!" the diamond shouted back. 

"Just- listen to me! I am your adviser, you should follow, what I say!" the zombie exclaimed in frustration. Steven always listened to him, why not now?

The diamond went up to him angrily and gripped at his coat "That doesn't mean I have to do what you say,  _Pearl_! If at all, you should  _obey me_! Just tell me one logical reason against this- one! As of now, you have only been shouting at me!"

He pushed the other away and took a step back, murmuring something. When the other told him to say it aloud, he did "Don't you see? You- You are  _creating_ this thing! It is your  _child_! I-I am not ready to have a child; hell, we haven't even slept with each other! A-And it won't even be my child, will it now?" He was pissed. 

"That's it? You don't want it, because it's my child by  _human_ terms? If that's so horrible, you can adopt her, for all I care.  When she emerges, she will be a grown woman. Also, who's fault is it, we haven't yet?" he joked at the other cruelly. They had never fought like this again since they had become an item. He shouldn't have said that last part he guessed, as Lars extended his arms and warped away without a word. "Lars! You can't just run away!" he called. This was grandiose. He sat on his couch in their living room, sulking. How dare he do that on his birthday? He waited for a while- the zombie would surely return soon and apologize! But nothing came. He surely waited thirty minutes and then began worrying. He should not have insulted him, he knew. He went to his bedroom to get his tablet; he could locate Lars with it. When he entered the room though, he felt ten times more shitty than he already had. The room had a silly 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' banner spun across the ceiling with hearts on it. On the floor and bed lay petals of pink roses- "Oh Lars..." he whimpered. It seemed as if he had planned on keeping his promise after all... Wiping his tears away, he quickly typed in Lars'  ID-code, so he could find the other. 

He warped to the location and found him in one of the zoos. Steven had followed in his mom's footsteps and had put an  _animal_ -zoo near his court. It was nice to see some real animals from Earth sometimes. He even had found a new family for Lion he could live with! Lars had jumped into the lions' enclosure, completely ignoring it was forbidden. He was currently cuddled up to his fellow undead, who was watching three of his cubs. Some of them were pink, while others had normal fur. The two had immediately loved each other and Lars spend lots of time here. Making the walk of shame, Steven also jumped in there to the guards' dismay and approached him. Lion hissed at him aggressively. "What do you want...scream more at me for being  _disobedient_ ,  _my diamond_?" the human Pearl also hissed.

"No! I-I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry for being so mean to you. I know you didn't, because you wanted to protect me. A-And sorry for not listening to you. I-It's just... I want her to be real so bad," Steven sobbed and Lars' heart immediately melted. Why did he have to be so cute? He motioned for the other to come over and he cuddled against the large feline as well.

He sighed and lay his hand on Steven's gemstone "I  _know_ , but I don't  _understand_ why! Why do you want her- and don't come at me with your dumb politics and colonies! I know more about it than you, you idiot." It was true, Laramie was better at politics than him.

He began sobbing more, which made Lion purr to comfort him "I... I just want to make things right again! Homeworld needs four diamonds and it has been like that for so long. My mom ruined it all- I just want to make my people happy!"

" _You little liar_. You aren't doing it for them, but for yourself. You want to replace White Diamond, because you fell guilty for her death, don't you? Steven, you had nothing to do with it!" he hugged his boyfriend. He was such a moron. He guessed solving conflicts by making children came from his mom...

He bawled his eyes out at being found out. "S-Still...Would it really be so bad? Don't you want a child with me? You know I could give you  _just one_ that would be biologically yours... This way is far better! I-I would get to see it as well..." he asked. 

"I...I love you, you know that. But I don't really have to have a child to be happy. You are older now, but still to young for that. Hell,  _I_ am too young for this..." he told him.

"But if I were to give you one, which one would you prefer? My death and a biological child for you or my life and an adopted one?" he demanded cruelly. 

" _Steven_ , no... I can't lose you, you know that. If I had to, I'd chose the latter of course. But I don't  _have to_!" he became frustrated with this again. He had enough of discussing the matter. 

Steven sighed in relief. He would have done both, but the former would be quite sad for him. "Love, I need this...  _Every night_ I have the same nightmare of her and White Pearl, where they blame me and haunt me! I can't take it anymore! You've seen me wake up from them! And all the white gems need a leader; they miss her so much! Please let us do this! You might not need a child to be happy, but I do!" he begged the other. 

He pulled at his own hair in frustration. He loved Steven and hated seeing him like this, but he wasn't prepared for a child! "How do we even care for her? We have enough duties as is! Steven, we are currently preparing for _war_ \- this is too dangerous..." he reminded him.

"So that's a yes then?!" Steven's diamond-eyes looked up at him, the happiest he had ever seen him. He wanted to say no on impulse, but his boyfriend was so happy... He gritted his teeth and nodded. This would be hell... "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you sooo much!" the other began chanting in his arms, jumping up and down excitedly. 

~~~~

"Nngh- no, don't stop!" Steven was currently being pressed up against a wall of their bedroom, Lars latching onto him and kissing him. He had pretended to be  _really surprised_ at the decoration and the zombie had immediately ravaged him, pushing him into the wall. They would finally  _do it_. He had waited over a year for it! Hungrily, he slipped a hand between them and unbuttoned the other's clothes. He could do anything to him today- Lars had earned it. This was the best birthday ever! The diamond proceeded to pull open a fly the other was wearing and slid his hands onto his shoulders, pushing down the opened clothes.  Lars wasn't so gentle with his shirt and simply ripped it open, buttons flying through the room. "That was my favorite!" the pink gem whined to no avail. Lars had waited far too long for this and he had lost his ability to control himself. Steven had teased him so often, trying to make this happen. Now he would pay for it. 

He sunk his teeth into the hybrids neck, making sure to leave bruises. When the other did a pained squeak, he growled "That's what you get for leading me on for over a year. Hope you know, what you're getting yourself into now..." He really didn't care though. Steven would loose his virginity to him  _today_. The world could end, Sneeple could attack and he wouldn't stop. 

"A-A little," he honestly answered. It's not like Homeworld had a big stash of gay porn he could watch and he surely wouldn't buy it himself or send someone. At Lars' biting and sucking, he began hardening. He lazily tried to hump into the other, but he had almost no space to move. Apparently the zombie was satisfied with his piece of art on the other's neck after some time and aggressively opened his tux's pants. When he had them and the underwear off, he pushed the diamond onto the bed, which made a few petals fly in the air. He got off his own trousers and climbed on top of his boyfriend, making escape impossible. Steven had to admit, despite being a diamond he really got excited at the commander's dominance. 

Lars gripped at the others hair and pulled, giving him better access to his mouth. It was already quite abused, red and swollen. Exactly how it should be. He kissed it more again, but stopped soon and let his hand slide downwards, gripping the other's erection. He lazily rubbed it up and down, making Steven mewl. He chuckled "So desperate, hm? Remember this; this will be only a fraction of the pleasure you will get, love~" He was so prepared to have some fun! Steven wondered, what he meant, but was soon shown. The other pulled some kind of  _ring_ made of rubber from under a pillow.

"W-What is that?" he asked. 

While Lars slipped it on to the other as far down as possible without consent and he told him "Just something fun~ You'll see soon enough." Next he pulled a few more items from various places and Steven got mildly scared.  A pink piece of cloth came next and Lars held his hands up to tie them to the bed, making a pretty bow, which made the diamond look like a present. "Hm...pink really suits you" he giggled.

"B-But how will I touch you?" Steven whined an fought against his bindings. They were surprisingly sturdy- this couldn't be a normal cloth from Earth... He tried again way harder, but nothing moved. He would dislocate his shoulder before getting out of it.

"Aww... You don't even have to try; they are diamond-proof," he grinned. It really was of use to have other Pearls as friends, who served diamonds... 

Steven really felt more as if he was about to be tortured. That feeling only intensified with each passing second Lars only jerked him off and smirked. It felt awfully intense- far more than usual. It must have been the ring.  It became boring to Laramie though, so he positioned himself differently and further down. He let go of the dick and replaced his hand with his mouth. He shyly liked at the top, which made it happily bounce and the diamond groan in return. It only got better though, when Steven was engulfed by the cold wetness of Lars' mouth and the latter boobed his head up and down. "Lars~ Please more-" the diamond began begging to his shame. When the zombie began chuckling around him, it was too much. He would-

"Nah, not so fast, my diamond~ You didn't think that was it, right?" the commander resumed chuckling, but had pulled away. Instead he held the dick with one hand and squeezed painfully hard.

Steven began sobbing, not able to cum "N-No, please don't!" He had never experienced something like that before. After ten seconds or so of this torture, he was released. Still painfully hard, he tried to buck into the hand though.  What he didn't expect however, was himself to be slapped on the gem, inflicting even more pain.

"Bad diamond. Don't do that. Let me take the lead; there is much more from where that came from!" Lars scolded him. Hitting the gemstone wasn't too bad. It had no chance of breaking or anything, it just hurt mildly. A little apologetically, he placed a kiss on the gem. Next he held three fingers in front of Steven and told him to suck.

"W-Why?" he gasped, but that opportunity was used to shove the fingers in his open mouth and make him gag. He had no idea really, what his boyfriend planned. But either way, he sucked at the fingers, as he did not want to be hurt again. Lars' meanwhile ground into Steven, making his own erection slide against the other's. When he deemed his fingers to be wet enough, he tilted on of the diamond's legs up and pushed a finger inside his hole. "That hurts! S-Stop!" he demanded, but was laughed at. Perhaps he should have educated himself more... The pain got worse, each time a new finger entered, but he shortly after began moaning like a wanton whore. The zombie was doing  _something_ and it felt absolutely wonderful. "D-Don't stop! G-Go harder!" he ordered the other around.

He snorted "Do be careful what you ask for, my diamond." He would make the other  _scream_ later... When he found Steven was getting a little too much excited, he squeezed again and pulled his fingers out. This time, Steven really cried. 

"Why are you doing this? This is torture! J-Just let me come-" the younger one pleaded. He thought this was supposed to feel good!

"Oh Steven, so very innocent. This might be torture, but I'm still rather nice to you. I could do worse... Hm, and we don't want this to end so soon. We haven't even reached the real thing yet! This is all foreplay, love," he purred. He got one of his next devices- a vibrator. 

This could not be happening! "F-Foreplay? A-And what is that again? Y-You don't won't to put that inside me- no, Lars! It's way to big!" he demanded. 

"Big?" he laughed wholeheartedly "That's the smallest one I found! And I intend to put much bigger things in there... Just relax," he told him. Really, it was a small and thin thing. It could  _hardly_ measure up to him. If the diamond was scared of this, what would he say to his cock? He crawled up and kissed Steven, letting his tongue slide into his mouth and obstructing his view. While Steven couldn't see, he pushed in the little device and the other tensed up.

"N-No, i-it hurts," he sobbed between kisses. When the vibrator was completely buried inside him though and turned on, he quickly became a moaning mess. As if that hadn't been enough Lars also sucked him off again, moaning lewdly for him. He almost got used to it by now- he had been so close, but he was being  _squeezed_  yet again. Steven  was shaking all over by now, the need to cum being unbearable. Lars wasn't much better though. He had hardly gotten any pleasure out of this yet and his dick was already oozing out pre-come to an extent, which could not be healthy. When Steven came close yet again, he slapped across his gem. He would show the other, what teasing him for one year got him. He turned off and pulled out the little vibrator, throwing it away to somewhere.

He crawled completely on top of the crying and drooling mess below him and positioned himself between his legs. He had to be sure about something first though "Steven, you have to be honest. Can you get pregnant right now?" 

"N-No..." he whimpered.

Lars watched him intently, but the way the other averted his eyes made him doubt. "I somehow don't believe you," he told him matter-o-factly. It would be fairly easy for the other to be impregnated. He only needed to shapeshift himself a womb and Lars would not even know it. Knowing the other quite well, the moron had probably done it too, feeling guilty or something.

"B-But I'm telling you the truth!" Steven assured him.

"Hm.. I hope you do. If you become pregnant, because you lied to me, I'm leaving you," he growled as a last warning. He really would. He would stop loving Steven the second he broke his trust so severely. Instantly, he heard the sound of shapeshifting and saw light in the diamond's lower abdomen. "You. Little. Whore." he could only say to that and slapped his gem again. 

"I-I am sorry! I-" he began sobbing, expecting to be screamed at now. He wanted to give Lars the child he desired!

What he did not expect was a kiss to his nose "Don't. I will forget about it this once, but not a second time." Steven was again thankful for having such a patient boyfriend, but was quickly pulled away from these thoughts. Lars had shoved his dick into him violently, surely damaging something and he shouted in pain. So he was being punished after all... He had never cried this much in all his life, he noticed. He wished he could hug his boyfriend right now, but he was still restrained. The zombie pulled in and out mercilessly with a quick pace and he begged him to stop. "What? You were so eager to be  _bred_ by me for over a year now and now you beg me to stop?" Lars insulted him again. Had he no heart?  When Steven did not stop crying however, he went a little slower and embraced him. This seemed to do the trick, making the hybrid moan sweetly against his neck. When he begged for nothing in particular, the human Pearl answered "Nngh~ Are you sure, you are a diamond? Pleading for your Pearl's cock to  _fuck_ you... how embarrassing. Be careful what you ask for. Mmh, perhaps I should take you on  _your throne_ , then everyone can see you being a little slut."

"Y-Yes, please more~" the other mindlessly moaned and shook below him.

He groaned himself at that and went a little slower again "Be a good boy and scream louder for me... Perhaps I will do it." He began biting into the other's neck again. He wanted the guards outside to hear him scream his name.

"L-Lars, please  _f-fuck_ me harder~" he shouted and was granted his wish. Laramie wasn't that cruel. He pounded into the other, which allowed him to finally cum with a loud groan. The commander was not finished though and didn't stop, overstimulating him entirely. He tried to push him off somehow, but was rewarded with a very deep growl and a painful bite. Soon though, Lars released as well and made his final thrusts, while filling the other completely. Even though he was spent now, he continued his cruelty. He pulled out his last toy and pushed it into the other, while he was still dazed. He rolled them over, so he could spoon his boyfriend, who slowly recovered and shifted around uncomfortably. "W-What is this  _again_ , Lars...? I- I can't go on...," he slowly whined, almost falling asleep.

"Just a little something that will  _stay there_... You've done so well, love. I'm so proud of you," he praised him lovingly, stroking his belly and gem. "Now rest a  _little while_..." he purred. 

~~~~

He had the best dream. He was making love to Lars again and it felt so perfect. He could almost feel the way the other thrust into him. However, he had to open his eyes- he was waking up, but the dream seemingly continued. He kind of still felt pleasure, but why? He tried to sit up, but he was still restrained. "Lars...?" he asked in his haze. No one seemed to be there though, the only thing he could  _hear_ was a little humming sound and the shower. He looked down upon himself and saw he was rock-hard and leaking- the humming sound came from inside him- "LARS! Nngh~" he shouted and moaned. Now he knew, what had been pushed inside of him yesterday. It was the same vibrator probably- who knew, how long it had been turned on.

Lars exited the shower, stark naked and wet. "Oh? What's wrong little diamond?" he asked in faux confusion. 

"Y-You know exactly, mmh, what! Undo the bindings!" he ordered. 

"I don't think so," the other laughed and instead stroked the other to completion, before turning around and leaving. When asked, what he was doing, he said "Why, I have to finish showering of course! Today is my beauty-day, didn't you know? I have to shave, do my hair, cut my nails... That takes lots of time!" Before Steven could shout his name again, he left him alone. Tears were streaming down his face yet again; his over-used body could not handle this much. The vibrator went on without mercy though, massaging that special spot all the time. He somehow managed to get hard again as well. He couldn't come just from this, though. He had to have some friction. He achieved turning onto his stomach despite his bindings and shamelessly rutted against the blankets. He thought that was it, when he came again. Lars would surely come soon- he did  _not_. He could not find release anymore- he had been utterly spent. He was doomed to stay in an endless circle of pleasure and overstimulation, it seemed. He  _could_ make a distress call. As a diamond, he could shout a specific word or code and the guards would come flying in. However, he didn't want them to see him like this. It was horrendous enough they probably heard him. There were guards in front of his door, after all. 

When Lars came back, Steven was a sight to behold. His breathing was very labored and he desperately rubbed against the bed sheets. Poor soul. He went over to him and undid the bow freeing him. He also removed the torturous device and Steven thought, that was the end. It wasn't though. The diamond tried to crawl away, but the zombie put a hand on his back and pushed him down again. Laramie easily slipped into him and used him himself again until he filled him up nicely "Nngh...I think I might have  _bred_ you enough now, hm? Or do you want more?" 

"...N-No more, please no!" he whimpered and he was  _finally_ let go. He had not even cum again, he just couldn't.

The zombie laughed "And you thought, you could have taken this at 14. You're just too cute, love. Always were, always will be. Now, you really should hurry! The meeting with your sisters is in ten minutes!" If Steven had not hated him before, he did now. He had planned this! 

"H-How? I can't even sit down!" he hissed.

The other leaned into his ear "Well, who is the one with healing spit now? I think I sufficiently showed you, how to get it  _up there_. But I could show you again~" He was punched in the stomach at that and Steven limped into the bathroom. "How rude..." the commander murmured and dressed. 

~~~~

The meeting was awkward, but Lars couldn't help chuckling at his boyfriend. He was rather fidgety and every time he shifted around, he did a pained expression. He wore a long-sleeved shirt, but Lars could still occasionally see purple bruises on his wrists- turns out, Steven can't heal himself that well. They were discussing the creation of a new White Diamond and he prayed, they would not agree. 

Blue Diamond asked "Are you really sure Steven? The Sapphires foretold she will grow rather human-like and slower than the Rubies. You two are the only people, who will know how to care for her..."

"Yes,  _we_ are sure. Lars and I will raise her, if it really turns out like that. It can't be too hard!" Pink Diamond winced. 

Yellow began frowning "What's up with you today? Did you get hurt?" She did not understand and Blue neither. Blue Pearl however began giggling, while Yellow Pearl made a vulgar gesture and winked. Lucky for them, the diamonds could not see that, as they were standing on the floor. 

"U-Uh... not exactly, don't worry," Steven blushed a deep crimson red and averted his eyes.

His yellow sister got very suspicious at that. "Pink Pearl! Have you failed in your duty to protect your diamond and he's covering it up for you?  **Speak**!" she ordered Lars around. Only Pink would be so foolish and protect his Pearl from punishment. He needed to be disciplined or he would never learn!

"No, Yellow Diamond. I might have been a little too  _rough_ with him, that's all..." he could hardly contain his laughter. Yellow Pearl couldn't and loudly began giggling and snorting. She and Blue Pearl had helped Lars execute his plan, showing him a few tricks. Diamonds were always so high and mighty, but that could quickly be changed in private with the right tools. They had given Lars the piece of cloth for example, which had been magically improved. No diamond could escape that. They had also shown him, how sensitive the gemstones were and how that could be abused. 

Blue Diamond found it funny and adorable as well and chuckled a little, but Yellow hissed at her Pearl to shut up and ended the meeting. Pink was embarrassed beyond hope in the meantime. They could not dwell too long on it though, as they had plans to fulfill.

~~~~

"Why do we have to take a diamond from here of all places? It's a graveyard, my diamond!" Lars inquired, while the hybrid weakly knelt in the middle of nowhere, letting his hand comb through the ground. It was like sand, but made of coal- they were on  _that_ planet again. His boyfriend was sitting next to him, legs crossed.

"Which other place should I take? She died here and she will be reborn here...," A thunder could be heard further away and dark clouds had formed a while ago, while Lars and Steven pushed away layers of pulverized coal.

He shook his head "Since when have you become this poetic, hm? Spending so much time _home_ doesn't do you any good. We should really visit Earth more often!" His boyfriend had changed. He really had become a real emperor, at least in public. They pushed away a final layer and found a sheet of diamond. "And now? Do you want to make the whole planet alive?" he asked.

"No.. We want a new sister, not a  _god_. We'll let it be cut and formed by a machine and take it back home. I'll finish it there- my tears could fall down by accident and really make the planet alive after all," the other explained. He did not want to make another weaponized planet or live in fear of his own creation. They went home again and to Pink Diamond's court. There they took the now almost finished product to their private room and sat on their bed. It had the same cut as Pink Diamond's gem and was smaller then the original White's. They did not want her to be too powerful again. This time, they would be  _equal_. If at all, Steven had become the most powerful diamond anyway. He could do the same things White could and seemingly got stronger with every month. Lars watched the gem reluctantly. He did not know, how to feel. He was happy, but also scared and unsure. Steven put the gem down though, stood up and pulled at his arm all of a sudden. He had had a brilliant idea just then!

"W-What are you doing? I thought you would-" he asked in utter confusion. Had he decided against it?

" _We_ are going to do it-  _let's dance_ ," the diamond smiled at him wickedly.

He did not understand at first, but quickly noted "S-Steven, we  _can't_. It's forbidden- if someone finds out, I'll be killed or worse!" Cross-fusion still had a death penalty on it at the moment, even if that would change soon. "A-Also, why?" he whimpered. This didn't make any sense!

Steven used his hight and kissed the other "Who would ever find out? Also, you didn't seem so reluctant last time... If we fuse, we will make her alive  _together_! T-Then you can be her real dad, too! Come on, love!" He seemed to think about it shortly and then agreed. They had only fused once before on his own birthday and that had been an accident at that. They had been plain lucky only BD had been there and let them go with a warning. They went through their quick-paced and passionate routine and fused into Stars.

Stars looked more like Pink Diamond than Steven himself. Pink, fluffy hair similar to Steven's and pink clothes, that closely resembled a pirate. It was rather handsome. He was a rather joyful and generally happy fusion, but could sometimes get very angry and dominant, too. Stars sat down on the bed and took the unfinished diamond in his hands. Now, he just needed to cry honestly. That wasn't too hard though. He had lots of negative and guilty memories to choose from, having two minds. For example Steven still felt guilty for the war and WD's passing and Lars just had to think about his time with Kevin and the shame, that he had gotten from it. Quickly, big drops of tears fell down his cheeks, drenching the gemstone and creating new life. It suddenly glowed, as if it would form and then stopped. Stars knew, that that was normal. All the new gems did this and took some time to choose a form. The Rubies had taken two days- a diamond would take much longer for sure. 

Content with their work, the two unfused and lay across from each other, the new White Diamond between them. "Thank you..." Steven whispered and Lars did the same. 

~~The present~~

The Barrigas and Greg sat there in awe. This child was a miracle! Martha reluctantly asked "D-Does she have a name?" In the meantime, the girl shyly took a cookie and sniffed at it. When Lars nodded, she ate it and proceeded to eat even more. 'Just like Steven,' Greg wiped a tear from his face, when thinking that.

Steven said "White Diamond. Gems don't really have any other names. So... what do you guys think?" 

Dante shifted around a little awkwardly and explained "Well, I'm happy for you two! But are you sure, you can handle a child?"

Lars laughed "Thanks. She's mostly really sweet and behaves well. The only problem we have, is that she doesn't have her powers under control and can get a little dominant. She once shapeshifted really tall and did not manage to reverse it for example. That's when she first poofed, too. That was really scary to us... A-And then there is Homeworld. As I said, everyone is  _fucking-"_ he was interrupted by Steven and scolded for his language. "Uuh, everyone is  _very_ confused about it. Our gems don't really get, that she isn't fully grown yet and can't rule. They even thought, she was broken at first! The white gems are the worst of all; they got even  _angry_ at us, because we 'held their diamond captive'. Others, from our court mainly and even some of the others' aren't better. They fu-  _even_ worship Pink Diamond now! They are going crazy over his ability to resurrect, heal and birth life. Not even White could do it so quickly. Blue and Yellow took thousands of years to form, she only took a  _week_. T-They think, he is a god or something. We had to  _remove_ gems from our court, because they wouldn't stop pestering him. I think you get now, why we needed to get away for a while," he sighed.

Greg was happy to have them here! "You can stay as long as you want! The little snowflake will even get to know her grandparents! I'm sure the gems will calm down sooner or later. I mean, this  _is_ pretty surreal to be fair," he excitedly told them. He would show her  _everything_! Lots of food, music, Beach City...

"Sure, dad. We'd be happy to have some time to rest. S-She doesn't really sleep, so we almost don't either. Well,  _Lars_ doesn't. And I am certain, she would like to visit  _my favorite colony_ , right?" The now most powerful diamond asked her.

Being shy, she asked softly "W-Will he be nice to me, daddy?" Martha could almost faint at that cuteness! She would have never thought she'd get grandkids... She loved the little one already! Hopefully she would stay this small a while longer!

Lars pushed her soft, slightly pinkish hair behind her ear "Sure he will! He's family after all."

"B-But he isn't a gem!" she whined. She had never met a real human before! Perhaps they were really scary...

Steven shook his head "White, humans are nice. I am half human and your other dad is somewhat human as well! I'm sure, you will like them." She frowned and then nodded in understanding. She jumped towards Greg inhumanly fast and poked his belly. The human did not attack her, so he must be okay.

"You are really soft. I like that. Show me Beach City, human!" she ordered true to her nature.

"Sweetie, no ordering and his name is Greg or grandpa," the diamond chuckled. White could get  _very_ demanding. She had even gone as far as to order  _Lars_  around once. Steven had quickly punished her though, grounding her. She had to learn the boundaries. Steven was the only one, Lars had to listen to. Not her.

She stomped her feet on the ground, reminding Steven of his yellow sister. "But I'm a Diamond! I- I am super strong and stuff- why can't I? Y-You order people, too! You even order daddy around!" she reminded him. 

"That's because he is a grown-up and I'm his Pearl. But I am not your Pearl; we explained you that. And we aren't on Homeworld, so it doesn't matter you are a diamond,  _honey_. You can order people, once you are old enough," Lars calmly stated, which made his parents very proud.

"A-And when is that?" she scaredly asked. She wanted to rule  _now_!

"Hm..." Steven grinned evilly and answered "I guess in two-thousand years you should be old enough to get your first colony and Pearl." It wasn't even a joke, that was a fact.

She gasped at him, mouth wide open "T-Two-thousand?!" He couldn't be serious! Still, he nodded. 

"Yes. Everyone had to wait so long. I even had to wait longer! You'll live," he chuckled. She pouted angrily and then pulled at the so-called 'grandpa'. She wanted to get away from her stupid dads!

When they had left, Dante chuckled "She's just as stubborn as you were, Laramie. But really- two-thousand years? That's pretty cruel! Just imagine you going to school for that long, son!" 

"Nah, it'll be fine. She has  _lots_ to learn before she can start invading other planets and races. We can't let her Pearl do  _everything_. We still have to make her one as well! That will take a thousand years on it's own!" Lars chuckled.

"But does Steven know, how that works?" his mom questioned. He had not learned for two-thousand years first.

He nodded "Yes. We  _finally_ found out, how to access the memories in my gem. I just had to poof! It was  _really_ interesting, you know. The things my mom did- they were just so  _wrong_. But at least I don't have to relearn the tactical stuff." His poofing had been a pure accident. He had play-fought with White until she suddenly pulled at his gem, having no idea, what she was doing. Lars had taken  _hours_ to calm her down. She had been so confused about it and had thought, Pink was dead.

She went on to state "Well that's quite handy! I wish I could do that! How are things otherwise? Still having fun at your job?"

Steven laughed "Yeah, mostly. But there are a few more problems we encountered. We found something rather  _unpleasant_ in sector 25. There's another advanced race there, which I call  _Sneeple_. Well okay, the name comes from Ronaldo, but still. They are quite the trouble right now and fighting them isn't so fun... But we'll manage. It's not the first race Homeworld has to fight." Those Sneeple were plain awful! 

"Can't you live in peace with them? You do with us!" Dante didn't understand. He had never thought of Steven as someone, who would invade planets and bring war upon others. Perhaps his position had changed him...

"No, dad. This might sound shitty, but humans aren't really considered an advanced race.  _They_ hardly reached the moon a few years ago. Sneeple and other races are like  _us_ , which makes them dangerous. Homeworld never makes peace treaties, that's why we are the top player... we eradicate our competition. But... can we  _not_ talk about politics? We have to do that every day already! Why don't you tell us, what has been going on in Beach City?" the human Pearl changed the topic. He did not need his parents accusing them of war crimes or anything;  _the others_ already did so. What had they expected? Homeworld had to expand constantly, devour others. And if someone tried to cross them, they attacked. It was as easy as that...  _The show must go on_. They couldn't stop and rest. But for now, they would have a fun day and forget their positions for a while. Before they couldn't anymore and Steven's adventures continued.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter :3 Thank you for reading!


	13. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! My personal favorite fic continues, as was requested! I don't know, how long this will go on though!

Steven and Lars had lain down for a while, simply too tired to do anything else. Meanwhile White was shown Beach City and the Barriga's cooked for everyone. Steven tiredly let himself be held in his boyfriend's arms, forgetting about his duties for a little while. His zombie was awake again as well, stroking up and down the other's back. "It's really weird being back here and not having to follow all off the etiquette and that stuff..." he murmured.

The diamond smiled and agreed "Yeah... It's like we are  _just_ Steven and Lars for once. I love our job and all, but this is nice. Hopefully White can learn something from this as well! Hm... I think we should go down soon, I can smell food." Lars assured him however, he could just eat later as well. "No... Your parents aren't our  _servants_ , Lars! I wouldn't want to impose." he disagreed and sleepily sat up. Once the two of them stood, the zombie quickly corrected his diamond's looks at which he giggled. "You just can't stop, can you?" he shook his head. Lars was taking his role as Pearl quite seriously in reality, even if he was the dominant one behind closed doors. The zombie really couldn't help it. Yellow had had him vigorously trained, so he could pull this off. He had been forgiven in the beginning for being rude or forgetting to bow, but not anymore. He was treated like a normal Pearl in public. Steven was of course a little nicer to him than he should, but Yellow and Blue not so much.

They went down the stairs to the kitchen, where food was already on the counter. As they were so many people, they would eat in the garden. Their guards bowed to them; there was at least one in every room. It weirded out the humans, but they got used to it more and more. They did visit the couple often enough. "Oh, hey you two!" Martha smiled happily. "You can go sit down in the garden, food's already been prepared!" she went on to say. 

Normally Steven would love to help and carry it outside, but he really could not. He had an image to keep up. He didn't follow the rules here as strictly, but there were still ten guards around. They could very well badmouth them at home, if he wasn't careful. So he only ordered " **Help** her, Lars." The other knew this of course and nodded, while he went outside. 

"Oh, okay..." Lars' mom frowned a little. That was rather rude!

The zombie snorted "He would help, you know? But that's just not in his position to do. You should see him, while he really is  _ruling_! He can get quite scary even, if he wants to."

"But he isn't the king here!" Martha disagreed. This was her house and guests should behave politely.

"It would be different, if we didn't have our guards here. We  _already_ don't follow some of the rules, which we really shouldn't. We don't insist on you calling him Pink Diamond for example or that you bow to him, you know that... A-And he kind of  _is_ king here," the commander tried to play it down. 

"Don't you ever get fed up with it? All this formality and being, well... uh _dominated_?" she asked, while getting a salad out of the fridge.

He vehemently shook his head "Nah...I like it, actually. It can become a little degrading at times, but I don't mind. Steven might seem very mighty and such, but in private... Let's just say the roles are  _very much_ reversed~ I'm really just tired now, because of White." He told her, while they carried the food outside. Really, Steven was  _anything_ , but dominant. He liked to pretend he was for Homeworld, but it was an illusion. They couldn't really tell anyone of this though. It would be shameful for Pink to be submissive to a  _Pearl_. 

Once everything was outside and ready, Greg and White also returned. She happily ran up to her  _dads_ and hugged them. "This colony is nice!" she exclaimed. Afterwards she sat down elegantly next to Lars. Her hair was a mess, so he quickly also made it look good again. He didn't like this, really. He liked being her parent of course...But this was a Pearl's job. He sometimes asked himself, if he really meant anything more to her in the end. Only time would tell, he guessed. 

Everyone began happily munching on their delicious food- even White had been encouraged to eat something and she found it very tasty. Dante asked, after they had chatted for a while "So, where are those Rubies by the way? You could have brought them, too! The house is big enough." He wanted to see all his  _grandkids_.

Lars immediately looked somewhat hurt, while the diamond sharply took in a breath. He admitted "They don't... How do I say this? They aren't really that  _attached_ to us or even me. They grew up in the course of two days and then insisted to follow their duties as soldiers. They are more or less normal Rubies, so we or I let them be. It would have also been quite weird to, you know, favor them. There more or less is nothing special about them..." 

"O-Oh," Dante stated "So you don't see them as your children?"

"Not really.Those Rubies don't need parents. White is different, because she takes so long to grow and she... she is special," Steven tried to explain. Calling any of his creations children was only a human concept anyway. They  _weren't_. The Rubies had been a prototype, nothing else. White was different because of their story together and because they created her together. 

Lars had a different opinion there. The Rubies were Steven's children and it hurt him immensely to see them, as they weren't  _his_. He could not grasp, why the diamond showed no interest in them at all. Was it, because they were nothing special? They had millions of Rubies, but only one White Diamond. Perhaps he shouldn't have agreed to any of this... He had done it out of love for his boyfriend. And now he wasn't sure, if there was any real love for the children from the couple and vice versa. He sighed and ate a steak, following the conversation with disinterest. 

"So, those  _Sneeple_... are they a danger to us as well?" Dante inquired at one point and Steven discussed the topic with them further. The diamond appeared quite certain, they would eradicate them like all those previous races.

In the meantime, White became bored. She didn't care about snake-humans! She looked around and investigated the local flora. Earth was okay. She knew however, that it couldn't stay that way, so she asked "Daddy, when will you finally harvest the resources from Earth and make a kindergarten? I wanna see the gems emerging!" 

Pink visibly began cringing. "Sweetie, I will never do that... I-I thought, you liked Earth?" he whimpered. He tried his best to teach her his values, but she never quite got them.

She blinked a few times, visibly confused. "Yeah... But that makes you weak! You should be strong! Can't we put more stuff in the zoo?" she proposed. Earth was beautiful, but keeping it like that wasn't efficient at all!

Greg felt quite disturbed by the little one. She had told him stuff like that as well, when they were gone. White was nothing like Rose or Steven in that regard... The older diamond got rather angry "I  _am_ strong, just in other ways. And the zoo can't replace Earth!" 

Lars quickly cooed at him to calm down. White was only a child, she couldn't understand! With that, the conversation ended for quite a while. The small girl pouted- she was right, her dad was just being irrational! 

~~~~

They later all went inside for a movie-night. The humans wanted Lars and Steven to have as much fun as possible! It hadn't gone over their heads that WD was quite the handful and quite merciless. Steven and Lars cuddled together in a big armchair, Steven sitting in the older one's lap. White had sat down on another armchair, posing as if she was sitting on her throne. The movie playing was a comedy, which almost everyone found awesome-  _except_ the little diamond. She was still sulking. Her dads were stupid! Total morons! They weren't even following the etiquette right now. Her Pearl-dad should not be holding her Diamond-dad like that! They were all crazy! She pointed at them proudly, showing them their mistake "You shouldn't hold him like that! You are his Pearl- **stand** by his throne!" Everyone looked at her disturbed, while she ordered around her dad.

Lars began tensing up even more than he already had. Inside he felt like dying all over again. It was one thing to be a Pearl, but it was another to be degraded by his own child. "I-I..." he only stuttered and went on to let go of his diamond's waist. She was right- this wasn't proper-

Steven felt utterly shocked at Lars actually following her orders somewhat. He pushed his boyfriend down and into the chair again fast. He growled " **White**! I told you before  **not to order him**!" Even though Lars wasn't a gem, the diamonds still had a power over him. They could command him and he would mostly do it, even if he disagreed personally. It was the gem-magic keeping him alive, that forced him into obedience to a certain extent. It wasn't as bad as with a normal Pearl luckily. His boyfriend could still resist, if he tried. Still it was not okay to do this to him! When Lars felt insecure or was caught off guard, he was more likely to do someone's bidding even.

"Why?! He's a Pearl- and I'm right!" she stood her ground, smirking. 

"Because he is your father and not  _your_ Pearl!  **I** am the only one, who is allowed to do this!" he became louder. How could she not see her error? How could she be this...  _inhumane_?

She shook her head "No. A Pearl is a Pearl and nothing else! Their purpose is to serve us- not be daddies! This is wrong!" It wasn't as if anyone taught her that. It was an instinctive knowledge.

So she really had no love left for him? Lars felt heartbroken. He was only a slave to her, a caretaker at best! Despite his best efforts, he could not prevent beginning to tear up. Why was she doing this to him? She was doing the exact opposite of what they had taught her! When his diamond became even more enraged, he quickly clung to him and whispered "N-No my diamond, she is right... d-don't get angry at her." He couldn't allow the other to become insulting or worse. White was only doing, what a diamond did! 

Steven had no idea what to even do at this point. Why was Lars siding with her? White provoked them further, though "See? Pearls are just pretty little things to look at! And he's such a bad Pearl, too... He never asks for permission to speak, he doesn't sing or dance... You should get a  _real_ Pearl!" Outwitting her parents was fun!

This was the point, where Steven snapped. He too was a diamond and hence could become very aggressive and dominant at points, especially when provoked. He jumped down from Lars, who tried to hold him back. He went up to her and made himself tower over her. It was time to use some more drastic measures. "I will  _not_ tolerate you treating Lars like this." he warned.

She snapped back "And what are you gonna do?!" Her dad couldn't do anything! She was a diamond.

"White Diamond,  **I order you to shut up** ," he demanded. She clearly tried to say something at that, but she prevented herself from speaking with her hands. With every failed attempt, she became more scared, murmuring incoherent things. He simply left her standing there and went back to Lars. He seemed to be pretty shocked still and let himself be embraced.

Greg quickly interfered "Kiddo, what have you  _done_ to her?" This couldn't be right.

"Oh," he began explaining "I ordered her to be silent and she is. That's what she gets for being so rude. She gets exactly the treatment, she could install in a Pearl. It's only fair!" He was asked then, how this was even possible by his dad. "With my powers, I am the most powerful diamond right now. And I also created her;  I can order her around even better because of it." he shrugged. He was the supreme leader now.

 


	14. Feeling Blue

His mind was fighting itself. He felt  _horrendous_. Lars was a rather possessive and dominant person by nature, but his purpose required the opposite. If he didn't fulfill his purpose, he was a failure. He sat at the kitchen's table, head on it's cold surface. Steven had run off to scold White further, try to teach her a lesson. It was already late evening and the house was dead silent. 

He wasn't left alone for long however, when his own parents walked inside the kitchen and closed the door, sitting down in front of him. Martha lovingly patted at his hair and he sighed. "Honey...Don't get hurt at what she said. She is a child; she doesn't understand, what she does with saying these things. I-I am sure, you are a good Pearl!"

He looked up, eyes a little puffy. "But I'm not... I do so many things  _wrong_. I-I shouldn't even be sitting here! I should be at Ste-  _my diamond's_ side a-and be there for him! I'm even too stupid to address him the right way! I-I should be replaced, she's right...I should have listened to Pearl! She had better become Pink Pearl again," he exclaimed. He was one big disaster. He went on to cry "I- I should just give up! I'm a shitty parent and Pearl and I will always be. I should just give over the title and stay as... as Pink Diamond's _concubine_!"

Dante shook his head "Now you are just over-dramatizing, son! Even if you are doing stuff wrong, you can still train and get better at it! And you aren't his _concubine_..." 

"Sure! That still doesn't make me a gem though or make White love me! And yes, I am! I can't marry him or anything- our ranks forbid it. It doesn't matter now anyway," he whined. He would never be able to be anything more than that. If he even  _tried_ to propose, he would be executed.

Martha disagreed "She loves you!" Her son laughed bitterly. "No, I am sure of it. You were always mean to us as well and you still did! She's just the same!" she grinned and pinched his cheek. He thought too low of himself! Of course the diamond loved him, she just couldn't show it.

They had a point. He really had been like that. Still he sighed "I just hope she'll improve soon. We don't need an overly dominant and traditional diamond, who will only try to compete with Pink."

~~Later~~

"F-Fuck me~ Ngh, please!" Lars whined uncontrollably. He was sitting on top of Steven, rubbing their dicks together. It was already past midnight, when they had gone up to the zombie's room. White stayed in a guest room meanwhile. 

Steven's eyes got wide "W-What?" Normally he was the receiving end! It had been weird already, that Lars had gone along with this. He had finished speaking to White, Lars came upstairs and he wanted to vent a little, so he started making out with the other. He usually was denied his requests, as the zombie only ever slept with him, if he was the one to initiate it. 

He moaned and begged "Please,  _my diamond_! T-Take me hard~" He needed this so bad right now. He needed to be _dominated_ right now. Be of use...

Steven didn't even know, what he was supposed to do! He was kind of overwhelmed at having Lars behaving like a wanton whore, rubbing himself against the diamond. He had even gone as far, as to position Steven's cock differently. It now rubbed up against his ass, sliding between his  _slick_ cheeks occasionally. He must have put lube there  _at some point_ before coming here. "L-Lars, why? You never..." he inquired.

"J-Just fuck me,  _daddy_ ~  _Please_..." he sobbed. He didn't want to force his diamond to do this and just slide down on his dick like that. That would kind of defeat the purpose of this. Steven started to uncertainly brush against his sides. He was surely nervous. When he saw the anxiety in the other's eyes, he whimpered "Y-You only need to, mmh, enter me, my diamond... I'm already prepared." He had anticipated this. He wanted to be a good Pearl for once and let this happen. The diamond swallowed nervously. He guided his tip to the other's hole, pushing in ever so slightly. The zombie however had to get  _more_. He slid down despite the pain and soon was sitting on Steven's lap, completely filled. His breathing came out raggedly and uneven. When the diamond tested the waters and bucked up slightly, Lars moaned "Yes! M-More~" It hurt to have him move so soon, but he liked it. So while the diamond thrust upwards, he rode him. 

Steven was in awe at his boyfriend's beauty. He must have shaven or something- his skin was  _hairless_ everywhere. It also smelled very nicely and shone; perhaps he had put oil on it? He must have planned this. Sooner than expected, the zombie came all over his stomach and even gem, which was a little weird. He himself was nowhere near finished, but stopped nevertheless. He didn't want to overstimulate the other- he knew from experience, how awful that felt. 

"N-No! Please don't stop... _Use me_ , my diamond~ I can take it!" his pink friend began whimpering however and lifted himself up, before sliding down again. 

"Nngh~ Are you sure?" Steven wanted to know.  _He_ himself would not be able to take this and he had better stamina!

Lars reassured him though "Yes- T-Take me however you want; that's what I'm here for! Fuck me, breed me, _hurt_ me- Just use my body, my diamond~" Steven had the suspicion, that this had something to do with White's insults to Lars. When the zombie fucked himself on his cock though, he didn't have the willpower to think about that now. Instead he became a little more bold and pushed the other off of him and onto his stomach. The commander immediately pushed his butt up, as if to present it. The diamond needn't be told twice and went on pounding into him, producing wet, lewd sounds. He came soon enough and Lars also managed to come a second time at feeling warm liquid gush inside of him. Steven however decided, he liked to be a bottom more and this would be a one-time thing.

The commander seemed to have different ambitions however. When they laid down, he cuddled up close to his smaller boyfriend, clearly demanding to be held again. Steven did so, but questioned all of this "Lars, what is going on with you? If this is about White- she doesn't know, what she is talking about! Don't listen to her."

The boy in question sighed and pressed closer. He didn't want to talk about it, but he feared to be forced to anyway. "I just want to be a better Pearl for you, do my job right... White has a point! I must be the worst Pearl ever... I'm way too dominant and demanding!" he explained. He only ever wanted to make Steven happy! That's why he had agreed to coming to Homeworld, staying there, getting children...

"But you are exactly, what I want from a Pearl! Y-You don't need to be submissive..." the diamond pointed out. He liked Lars opposing him as well! 

"Are you sure? You know how diamonds are," the former pirate doubted that. Diamonds were dominant, not submissive!

Steven nodded more or less "Love, I don't have anything against you following the etiquette, when we are in public. It would be awesome, if you stayed submissive there! But I don't want you to be like that in private- that's just not you! And yes, we can get aggressive and such... but it's rather weak in me!" 

"O-Okay," the older one agreed to it. He wanted to know however "Did you have any breakthrough with White yet?" 

"Not really. She's just...  _such a diamond_! She's stubborn a-and dominant. I can't get through to her..." Steven visibly became sad, so Lars kissed him better quickly. He himself was tired of this as well, but he had to be strong for him. If both of them got sad, it wouldn't help anyone.

"Perhaps it would help, if you showed off your might a little more?" he proposed.

"No, then she'll just take me as a role-model! And I don't want to scare her into obedience! Also, she knows I'm stronger," the diamond shook his head. Ordering her to be silent was the most he would do. He would never resort to physical punishment or brainwashing. "She has to see Pearls are worth something, as well as Earth! We have to... I don't know... Show her that she is  _inferior_ somehow? Not generally, but just that she isn't all-powerful," he pondered.

"Well then... we'll just ignore her requests! O-Or I'd have to beat her at something, but she is rather strong and intelligent already. There is nothing, I would be better at!" he exclaimed. 

Steven had an idea "But you are! You can submit better, show your love more and cook better for sure!" The commander asked however, how that would be useful in any way. "We'll make her jealous. This could potentially get her thinking, why she isn't favored and so she'll change," the diamond explained. Next morning they would take action.

~~The next morning~~

The next day, Steven and Lars were inseparable. "My joyful diamond~" Lars cooed to the other, greeting him with a bow. Steven had just stepped into the kitchen after having showered. Meanwhile White was sitting at the kitchen's table, all high and mighty. The pink gem paid her no mind and went straight to his lover, kissing him. They  _very rarely_ did it in public, because it was still rather unheard of.

"Eeew!" WD made and then turned to Martha "Human! **Make** me more of that organic food!" 

Mrs. Barriga looked a little taken aback, but wanted to do it. Steven however said, while holding Lars' waist firmly, "No. White is such a mighty diamond, she can do this herself! I mean, it would be  _plain embarrassing,_ if not! Even a Pearl could!" Martha became increasingly confused, but did not want to interfere in WD's upbringing. The girl meanwhile steamed of anger. She wanted the food! Stupid dads- they hadn't even greeted her. They even possessed the audacity to ignore her now! The couple, Greg and the Barriga's sat down at the table as well and ate. White wanted to steal a waffle- "No White. If you want some, you'll make it yourself. Or are you saying, you can't manage to so something, even  _Lars_ could do?" Pink Diamond laughed cruelly. 

"N-No! I can do that- I just don't see a reason to. There is food here, why should I do it myself?!" she tried to be smart. This was not just!

Steven took the last waffle, rolled it and more or less force-fed Lars with it. "Because: This is  _my_ colony, so those are  _my_ waffles,  _my_ humans and  _my_ world! I make the rules here, sweetheart. Also, there are no waffles left!" he grinned at her mouth gaping open in utter disbelief. He shoved the last piece of waffle into Lars' mouth, making him  _almost_ gag. He was lucky to have so much  _experience_... His dad looked all kinds of embarrassed at him taking down the whole baked good. 

"B-But-" she started, but found no argument. The humans were a little put off at Steven calling them his property, but soon got, what was going on. Afterwards the breakfast went on without problem. 

Steven went even further though. He called over one of the guards and ordered "You know what? Why don't you guys have some free time as well, visit the city and stuff?  **Go and enjoy yourselves**!" Of course he had already informed them of what was happening. They wouldn't really go, but keep to the shadows.

"B-But daddy! Who will protect us?!" White guessed, he had gone insane.

"Why so scared? We both are diamonds, who would be able to defeat us? You should be able to defend yourself by now, starlight~" Pink giggled. He saw the anxiety in her eyes. She had never been this vulnerable before in her short life. Afterwards Steven sat down on his so-called 'throne' in the living room, his  _Pink Pearl_ standing besides him proudly. He seldom actually stood beside the throne. He had in the very beginning, but he soon had gotten his own chair or sat on top of the diamond.

Greg laughed "Are you really going to go through with this? This is some interesting parenting you two have going on!" He saw their intentions. They were making White doubt herself or rather her superiority. 

"Yes," Steven declared "If White wants to be treated like a diamond, she will be. She'll really appreciate Pearls after this, trust me. She has to get that she isn't  _a god_ , but a weak, tiny gem." When their child and the Barrigas entered the room, she looked a little insecure already.

She sat down on an armchair as well, but nervously played with her hair. She didn't understand, what was going on! Why were her dads so weird all of a sudden? She had wanted them to follow the rules, but not like that! It had only been an attempt to rile them up a little. Now she didn't even have guards to protect her. She looked around a little, not knowing what to do. On Homeworld her dads had often played with her or trained her, sometimes Pearl's entertained her. Nothing of that was happening here! She looked at the other diamond and demanded "I want your Pearl to entertain us! **S** - **Sing** us something!" No way she would be denied  _that_. Lars however paid her no mind and sternly looked forward, resisting her command. He had been ordered by Steven no to listen, so it made it easier. When WD saw that, she jumped from her chair and went up to the zombie "Hello?! Are you defective or something? I said:  **Sing**!" 

Greg and the others wanted to laugh at her outburst, but were also a little shocked. In annoyance, Pink declared "Will you be silent? If you want someone to sing, do it yourself. My Pearl has more important tasks."

"B-But he's just standing there!" she intervened.

"And he's being  _pretty_. That's very important. But perhaps you could ask him nicely and he'll entertain you," he offered despite her tantrum. She immediately got stubborn. She'd not fall that low! Instead she sat down on her chair, pouting. This wasn't, what the other diamond wanted to achieve- he had to take this even further. "Lars?" he asked.

"Yes, my diamond?" the other purred in response. The others watched on in interest.

Pink smiled and ordered more or less " **Let's** **train** a little. I'm getting  _bored_." He knew White absolutely  _loved_ training to fight, so this should break her. He stood up and went into the garden, Lars trailing closely behind him. The humans also came and sat down on the patio, observing the spectacle. White of course did as well.

Upon seeing the two assuming a fighting stance opposite each other, she shouted "Hey- I-I want too!"

Steven only growled "Sorry, sweetie. If you can't even make yourself waffles, you can't fight either." He was slowly getting fed up with her. Why wouldn't she love everyone and be kind like him? With every passing day, her attitude only worsened. He ignored her and started venting. While he pulled out his shield, Lars pulled out a white and pink sword from his hair. He had become quite good at fighting over the past year. It could only be a good thing, if he was able to defend himself after all. He wasn't a match for Steven's strength of course, but it was still fun. 

White started tearing up. Lars jumped up in the air gracefully, but violently struck down on the shield and was then thrown off to the side. Sometimes Steven attacked him with a spiky bubble or charged at him with his shield too. They were careful not to deal too much damage to each other, but there would at least be a few bruises. She wanted to do this too! Why was everyone so mean to her- she did nothing wrong! Her Pearl-dad was a  _servant_! It was right to treat him like one. Why then did her Diamond-dad get so mad at her? Pearl-dad was so  _weak_ and stuff too. She couldn't understand, why Steven clung to him like that. Or the humans for that matter. She could off them with one blow! Soon the fight ended with Lars' sword flying into the nearest bush, while he himself flew into the house's wall and made a pained yelp. He had tried to jump at the other again, but he had been pushed off a little too hard.

He then lay on the floor, looking kind out of breath and  _dazed_. "L-Lars!" Pink shouted and let his shield dissolve. He had not wanted to do this, he had just been so frustrated! This reminded him so much of his boyfriends death- Their parents also ran over to the pink boy, while White frowned and wiped her tears away. What was going on? 

The zombie's vision was kind of  _fucked_ and his spine hurt pretty bad. Moving was all kinds of difficult too... When he saw his love crying like mad though and approaching him, he whimpered "I-It's okay... Just hurts a little..." He knew this hadn't been intentional. 

"I'm so sorry- I-I should have been more careful!" the younger boy cried, but healed his other half with that. Soon Lars had been fixed again. He assured everyone of his well-being by standing up and walking around. While the humans were quite relieved and Steven happily embraced and smooched Lars, White stood a little further off. 

She approached however and asked, thinking the others were morons "Why were you crying? He would have just poofed or we could have replaced him..."

It was dead silent after that comment. Only Lars shook his head and hissed "Replaced me? You can't just- You know what?  **I'm done**! I'm  _fucking_ done! This is pointless. You'll never learn how to love, you'll never be kind and you'll never be  _my_ child!"

"Lars-" Steven's eyes got wide.

"No  _Steven_! I've went to Homeworld for you, I stayed there, I became a  _fucking_ slave for you! But I am  **not** going to father  _something_ , which hates me and sees me as a- a  _replaceable toy_! Just  **no**! I don't care anymore! Just give her her stupid court, her stupid colonies and a fucking Pearl, so we can live in peace at our own court!" he shouted, having lost it completely. He had given up his whole life for the other, but this was too much! Lars ran up to his room and the diamond followed him, desperately trying to calm him down. 


	15. Hate and Love

"Why is he so angry at me?" White wept in her 'grandmother's' arms. She and the humans were still on the patio. After Pearl-dad had gotten so angry, she had realized, she had done something wrong. But she didn't know what!

Martha tried her best to explain "Lars thinks you don't love him. Anyone would get mad at that."

"I do like him! But not, when he is so angry and mean to me!" she defended herself. She had been wrongfully accused in her view.

"White, he got angry and mean, because you weren't nice to him either. And love is different from  _liking_ someone," Martha went on. White however asked, how that was different. "Well... If you love someone, you'd do everything for them. Lars for example left his whole life behind for Steven to go to Homeworld. Steven on the other hand loved Earth so much, that he joined his sisters. If you love someone, you even risk getting hurt yourself or doing irrational things. When you only like someone, you wouldn't do that," Mrs, Barriga told her.

She pouted "Then he doesn't love me either! He never did anything for me! And even if, that's his purpose!" 

Dante intervened there "He has done lots of things for you. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't exist. Steven only got you, because he approved. And he has sacrificed stuff for you, too. Did you not see, how tired the two were? They don't have to raise you, White. They could have left you alone as well."

He had a point. But still "He shouldn't get that mad though... I only corrected his mistakes and the two overreacted! He would have been fine either way..." 

Greg shook his head sadly "No, he would not. Lars is a human, he can die. He can't poof, so he he's just...  _gone_ then. It's like when he shatters.  It's only Steven's magic keeping him alive and we don't know, if he can be revived a second time. And you could have corrected him more nicely, White. He does his best to serve your dad, but he just  _isn't_ a Pearl! He'll never be completely like them."

"...S-Second reviving?! Pearl-dad  _shattered_?" she gasped in terror. She hadn't known! Now she got scared for her pink dad. He was a Pearl, but she still liked or even loved him!

The humans regarded each other. Perhaps the couple had not wanted her to know? They had to tell her now though. Dante smiled sadly "He did. He tried to protect your other daddy and his friends, but it didn't quite work out... You see, he wasn't that good at fighting back then or as strong. He loved them so much that he sacrificed himself."

"He actually did?!" she gasped in awe. She never would have thought a Pearl could manage to be this selfless. They  _should be_ , but they rarely were. Perhaps she should have cut him some more slack.

Martha petted her hair lovingly and told her "Yes, he is very brave. And that's why Steven and him got so mad, when you became so mean to him. I know it wasn't your intention, but you did. How would you feel, if I told you this? You are a bad diamond, you don't fulfill your purpose, loving the one you love is  _wrong_ , you are weak... Those aren't nice things to say. It is unheard of to cuddle one's Pearl or love them, I guess. But who said so? Why does it have to be? If everyone told you your dress is ugly, but you love it- do they have to be right? Not everything others say has to be the truth, sweetie."

"I-I guess I would feel bad..." she agreed.

"Yes, you would. Just because your dad is a Pearl, it doesn't mean he is weak and worthless. He is  _your dad_ and it shouldn't matter, what rank he has. The person behind that rank is far more important! Just imagine you would have come out as a Pearl yourself. Then you would want others to not be mean to you as well. You would want them to see past your gemstone," Martha went on.

"So dad can be  _just dad_ and not a Pearl for me?" she asked in confusion, playing with her hair.

Dante nodded "Yes. And other gems can be your friends and not  _gems_ as well. We humans can  _just be family_ as well!"

"O-Okay... I g-get it now, I think! But- How do I get dad to not be mad anymore?" she began crying anew. "He'll never forgive me!" she wailed. She had insulted him unintentionally! And he had told her, she wasn't his child anymore...

Greg announced "Of course he will- he  _loves_ you!"

~~~~

White stood in front of her dad's old room with a bunch of flowers in her hand, she had collected. Inside she could hear weeping:

"...No Steven! Why would I? She hates me!"

"I'm sure, she doesn't! She just doesn't understand this. She needs some more time-."

" _More time_?! I've given her enough time and she only gets worse! I can't take this anymore..."

"Perhaps this is normal... You were like that to your parents as well!"

"No, I wasn't! I didn't tell my parents they should die, so I can have other parents! I didn't tell my parents, they were my slaves! Don't you dare say that again!"

"Please, just give her one more chance! One! P-Perhaps we need another approach-"

She heard the sobbing getting louder "And what would that be?! Steven, no... I-I don't want to anymore! Don't _make_ me do this!"

"I-I won't force you..."

Afterwards, she heard walking and then silence. She took that as a sign to enter and try it. It could not get worse anyway. She shyly knocked at the door and then went inside, despite not being answered. Her Pearl-dad was sitting on the floor, devastated, while the diamond did his best to hold back his own tears and held him. As she went inside and revealed herself, Lars could only cry more and hid his face from her. He could not take any more insults... "D-Dad...?" she whimpered, but she got no reaction from him. She just kept on talking then, gripping at the flowers "I-I wanted to a-apologize... The humans told me, I did something wrong. I didn't want to hurt you, daddy. I just...I thought it was good to correct you, so you wouldn't mess up in public and stuff! I... I love you! I never wanted to make you cry- I-I'm sorry..." Still no answer. "I- I didn't know you could not poof! I s-shouldn't have said that stuff! I don't want another dad!" she tried again. No answer. "A-And I know you are a very brave and good Pearl now! N-Not that it matters... Y-You are my dad a-and that's more important than your rank, I was told... P-Please stop crying!" she begged, when his mood did not immediately lighten up. 

Steven felt so very joyful upon hearing that! She seemed to have finally got it! But Lars wasn't really reacting... He nudged at the other, whose tears still soaked his clothes. "L-Love, won't you say something? S-She even brought flowers!" he whispered to him. Perhaps he had not heard in his depression? He prayed he wasn't too far gone already. Lars was prone to depression he had found out over the past year. He was fairly easily hurt and slipped into one of his episodes. 

The zombie looked up at that, inspecting the flowers. He then turned towards his diamond again and silently whimpered "I-I don't know- I c-can't..." His mind was a mess. It was full of hate, disappointment, sadness and more negativity. Even if he was glad, he could not articulate it nor understand the situation fully. 

White took his hesitation as rejection and began tearing up. She had done this! She had messed her dad up and now he'd stay like that- she was a monster! Pink panicked at having 2/3 of his family crying and did the only thing, that could help his boyfriend. He took the other's face into his hands and sealed their lips lovingly. He allowed them to fuse- normally he prevented it. It was so very easy to fuse with a loved-one! That's why Garnet and Smokey Quartz never needed to dance as well. If gems loved each other enough, that was not needed. 

The first thing Stars did was taking a  _deep_ breath, calming down. He didn't come into existence that often. Really, he was abused as a therapeutic tool for Lars. When the latter froze up and could not deal with his own thoughts anymore, Steven was needed to sort through those thoughts. It was kind of sad to just be that- his entire being was rather unhealthy at points. His personality could be descried as warm, comfy and funny, but also depressed and clingy at times. He was like a depressed Sardonyx right now. His appearance starkly resembled the old Pink Diamond, only as a male. His hair was exactly like hers, he was taller than any human and had four arms and eyes. The top eyes had pink diamonds as irises, the bottom ones were just black. His skin was rather human-like, if not a little too pink. He wore tight, white trousers, a white shirt and pink vest. He had ditched his coat, as Lars had not been wearing his. 

"Y-You can f-fuse?!" WD gasped, despite still crying. She went closer a little reluctantly and regarded the fusion.

Stars smiled a friendly, but sad smile "Yes, sweetheart. I'm Stars by the way. Please don't cry anymore... Lars is very happy about your apology and accepts it, he just- he is a little  _disturbed_ right now, okay? He loves you though! He only needs a little time to sort through his feelings himself as well." He gladly took the offered flowers into his possession before ruffling through the little one's hair. 

"T-Thank you! U-Uh... So you are both my dads?" she wanted to know, eyes sparkling in awe. He nodded. "T-That's cool! You're so tall and stuff a-and pretty!" she assured Stars.

He chuckled weakly and proceeded to pick up the little diamond with his remaining three arms to cuddle. "Why, thank you as well! I am so very proud of you~ I hope this lasts however, little princess!" he cooed and rocked her like a little baby. 

"W-What is a princess? And it will! I-I promise to treat you better now! I'm a good child after all," she giggled.

~~A little later~~

Once the three parents heard laughter and someone coming downstairs, they visibly relaxed. This could only be a good sign! They eyed the doorway in interest- "Who are you?!" Greg squeaked suddenly. A tall, pinkish man was standing in the doorway!

Stars sat down White, who happily danced around him. "I'm Stars, Lars' and Steven's fusion. Nice to meet you!" he winked at them. He let himself fall into one of the armchairs and sighed exhaustedly. Emotional roller-coasters always made him far too tired for his own good. Lars had meanwhile  _more or less_ calmed down again, but Steven took no risks. They would need to stay like this for a while longer. Not that they minded. Before he could relax however, a certain little gem jumped onto him and demanded to be hugged. 

Martha beamed "So, you three are all happy again?" Stars nodded and grinned, while patting his child. "Great! I was really concerned there for a second..." she admitted. This visit had been supposed to help the small family relax, not create more drama!

"Y-Yeah, me too. Homeworld will be happy to learn of this as well! But don't worry, we'll stay a few more days. I don't mind not having to manage half the universe for a while... Perhaps I should send Blue and Yellow here as well," he wondered. It really felt good to not work for some time and be treated like a normal person for once.

While the adults talked, White inspected the curious fusion of her dads. She rarely saw fusions at all! It had been legalized a short while ago, but most gems didn't try. Even her dads never fused in front of her or in public- she would change that however! This was so great! She wanted to have so many eyes and arms as well, as it must have been quite awesome and handy. She interrupted the conversation going on "Dad? I want to fuse as well! Make us fuse!" 

Stars was a little taken aback and shook his head "I'm sorry, but no. We can't fuse, you know that."

"I don't  _know that_! Why not? I thought people, who loved each other did this! A-And we love each other!" she pouted. 

Upon hearing her say that, Lars did a happy squeal inside and Stars kissed her gemstone. It was a  _very_ intimate gesture and White knew that. It was reserved for very close couples, soulmates even and  _now_ children. Either way, Stars had to say "Yes, we love each other and that makes fusion possible. But you  _should_ know the diamonds agreed to never fuse. Light Pink Diamond would be far too strong, sweetie. Blue and Yellow would get very angry at it."

"B-But Yellow and Blue aren't here! We can keep it secret! A-And I could at least fuse with Pearl-dad!" she proposed.

" _Pearl-dad_ is..." he stumbled over his own words. How the hell was he supposed to explain this now? He hadn't told her, Steven was a hybrid! "I-It's difficult. Gems can't fuse with humans and you know Lars is one. Steven can only do so, because he isn't a normal diamond-" he began explaining.

"-He's ill o-or is he... an _off-color_?!" he eyes got wide. Perhaps he had even been corrupted and that's why he could fuse! Greg meanwhile took in a sharp breath- they had not told her yet? How could they have kept Steven's hybrid-status from her?

Stars quickly shook his head "Y-Yes and no. Pink Diamond  _is_ an off-color, but that isn't the reason he can fuse with humans. He is half human. It is a loong story, starlight..." he quickly summarized the entirety of Steven's life, completely overwhelming her. 

"S-So... He is an off-color a-and not a f-full diamond? A-And not the original Pink Diamond either?!" she gasped, but the fusion nodded again. Stars was rather scared to be rejected now- "I... I still love you, though! Diamond-dad is still pretty strong and stuff! A-And when I am older, I can protect you from the others too!" she vowed. Surely there would be gems, who were still against off-colors. 

Stars did a little, happy sob and hugged her "Thank you..."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter for real this time!


End file.
